Upside Down
by TK Grimm
Summary: [COMPLETE] [DeiSaku] AU. Sakura Haruno has the perfect life, perfect job, perfect friends and perfect boyfriend. That is, until she meets Deidara and her world is turned upside down.
1. Do Me a Favor

_******Full Summary: **_Sakura Haruno has the perfect life. She's got a great job working at Akatsuki Studios as world famous artist Akasuna no Sasori's well-paid receptionist. She goes to a prestigious university, studying to become a doctor. In her spare time, she even visits the gym and has a killer body. Her best friend, Ino Yamanaka, owns her own hair salon and spa and gives Sakura free passes. Plus, she's dating the very popular, very rich, very handsome Sasuke Uchiha. Everything seems perfect… that is, until she meets a fallen artist named Deidara who turns her world upside-down. (AU) (DeiSaku)

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_**Upside-Down**_

_TK Grimm_

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**Chapter One:**

**Do Me a Favor**

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Sakura Haruno bit her lower lip as she fumbled through the contents of her purse. Her keys were lost in the unorganized mess of makeup, combs, change and various other products she kept in there. Glancing uneasily at the front door, which she had locked with the lock on the doorknob after exiting her home, she wondered if she had accidentally left her keys on the kitchen counter. If that was the case, she wouldn't be able to get in her car **or** her apartment.

Sighing with relief as they finally turned up – hidden behind her wallet no less – she took them out and unlocked the door to her purple Tommy Kaira ZZ, a birthday present from her boyfriend, Sasuke Uchiha. She sat down in the front seat, carelessly tossing her purse on the passenger side. Her eyes widened when she realized she never zipped the black bag shut. "No!" she exclaimed, fruitlessly trying to reach for it before it fell onto the floor mat and spilled the contents all over.

Sakura shut her door and squirmed over, reaching her right hand out to pick up some of the fallen items. "Great way to start your day, Sakura," she mumbled to herself, frustrated already. If she didn't hurry, she was going to be late for breakfast with her friends.

When she finally gathered everything up and zipped her purse shut, she set it down in the passenger seat again. Brushing a few of her bubblegum-colored bangs out of her pretty green eyes, she turned the keys and started the car. Sakura watched the rear view mirror, making sure she wouldn't hit the mailbox again. Sasuke was furious when that happened. She only had the car for two weeks and she backed into her own mailbox by accident. He rarely lost his temper and was usually calm and collected, but when it came to his cars, that was another story. She rolled her eyes with amusement as she drove down the street. _Men and their cars, honestly_.

Sakura arrived at the coffeehouse where she met her friends every weekday morning before work only to find that her two best friends were already there. She parked her car between Hinata Hyuga's white Mustang and Ino Yamanaka's blue Dodge Neon. Stepping out of her car, she locked it with the remote control in her key and walked into the restaurant.

Ino saw her right away and waved her over to their usual spot. The trio always sat in a booth by a window where there was lots of sunshine and they could talk. It was always a nice way to wake up in the morning, better than going straight to work. Sakura grinned, sitting down next to Hinata. "Hey, guys," she greeted.

"Morning, Sakura," Hinata said in her usual quiet, shy tone.

"Heya!" Ino smirked. She rested her elbows on the table, folding her fingers across to make a bridge for her chin to rest on as she gave Sakura a suggestive look. "So how does it feel to work for hottie Sasori from high school?"

Sakura's eyes widened momentarily but she quickly masked it with a nonchalant expression. "Really great, actually. He pays quite nicely. So Ino, how does it feel to own your own business?"

Ino gave her usual dramatic sigh, "It's _such_ hard work, but that's what you need to get by in the world these days. Wouldn't have gone far without Hinata here helping me out."

Hinata smiled sheepishly, "It's no problem; we're best friends. A-and, well, you got me a job."

"Of course!" Ino said in a tone that stated it was obvious. "I think it's great having friends working at the spa with me. Or with hair in your case." Ino owned a hair salon and spa called Vollenden. Hinata worked there as one of the beauticians. "I offered Forehead here a job, but _no_…"

Sakura playfully rolled her eyes, "I already had a job, you know that." Sakura worked at Akatsuki Studios where she was a receptionist for a world famous artist. She went to high school with Sasori, but he was three grades ahead of her and already well-known for his artistic style. Now he was famous in several different countries and known as _Akasuna no Sasori_ to several art collectors. Sasori made enough money to pay Sakura _very_ generously.

"Yeah, yeah," Ino smiled, waving her hand a couple times in dismissal. "So, I was thinking…" she began, her tone turning into the suggestive one she had used before. "Temari finally got permission to reopen that old night club. Vollenden isn't open on Sundays and Thursdays so I offered to volunteer to… spice things up. What do you two say?"

"That sounds like fun," Hinata agreed. "I think it would be neat to help Temari decorate and hire people."

Sakura paused, mentally going over her schedule. "I have Sundays off, too, but I'll have to ask Sasori about Thursdays. It's pretty random sometimes."

"I'm sure he won't mind, he knows Temari," Ino pointed out.

Hinata nodded, "Don't worry, Sakura. Even if you can't, well… you can still come with us on Sundays. A-and we can show you what we did the Thursday you were gone."

"Good idea, Hinata," Sakura said pleasantly. It was nice to see that Hinata was finally coming out of her shell. Back in high school, she couldn't get out a sentence without stuttering or tripping over her words. She blushed frequently, too, and was usually unable to have eye-contact with the person she was speaking with. Sakura and Ino befriended her from elementary school and slowly helped her get more confidence. Now that they were adults, Hinata finally began showing her true colors, and it was a really nice change.

Ino took a sip of her cappuccino before continuing. "So… I hear _someone_ has a twentieth birthday coming up…"

Sakura chuckled lightly, playing along, "Oh, I wonder who **that** could be."

Ino and Hinata were giggling, but the blonde was the one who managed to speak first. "Hinata and I think maybe we should celebrate extra special this year. Do you know what Sasuke's doing for you?"

Tilting her head to the side, Sakura gave her a confused look. "Sasuke's doing something for my birthday this year?"

"No, I mean, are you two doing anything special?" Ino asked, rewording her question.

"Oh, no, not that I know of," Sakura replied. "It's usually just like any other day, but he wishes me happy birthday and gives me a present."

Ino sighed in envy, "Yeah, like that beautiful car out there." She shook her head once and returned to the subject at hand. "Hinata and I were thinking about having a girls' night out or something like that this year, what do you say?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "What do you have in mind?" Before either could reply, she continued. "I don't have much free time these days, girls. I have work at Akatsuki and school at the university."

"How's that going?" Hinata asked politely.

"Really well, thanks," Sakura smiled. "As soon as the semester's over, I'll have two years in."

"That's great and all," Ino started, "but you've got to celebrate your birthday… I mean… it's your _birthday_, Sakura."

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts," the blonde grinned. "Leave it to me, I'll take care of scheduling and planning since it's **your** birthday. I've got a month to work this out, so it's not a problem. Plus, I'm not tied down with college like you are."

Sakura frowned slightly but didn't complain. "Okay, but don't put too much effort into it. It's not that big a deal."

"Don't worry," Hinata told her with an encouraging smile. "Ino is really good at this stuff."

"Yeah, I know," Sakura grinned. "Well, I'd stay longer, but I have to get to work. I was late."

"We noticed," Ino laughed. "Ask Sasori out for me again."

Sakura nearly dropped her purse after just picking it up. "Ino, you pig! I'm not going to ask my boss if he'll go out with you!"

Ino sighed, "It was worth a try."

Sakura rolled her eyes, trying to act offended, but to no avail as she felt the corners of her mouth tug upwards. "All right, I'll see you two later. Same time tomorrow – and this time I won't be late!" she promised. Sakura waved one last time and walked out the door. She unlocked her car, got in, started it up and headed to the studio.

Sakura was always at Akatsuki Studios first, which was why she kept her keys at close reach even after locking her car once she got out. She approached the building's front door and unlocked it (after several minutes of trying to remember which key it was). Hanging her white trench coat up on the hanger, Sakura started turning on the lights.

The studio was painted mostly white – Sasori said colored walls would take away some of the presence of the art in the room – but it really didn't need much decoration. There were several marvelous paintings adorning the walls, each with an exorbitant price tag. However even Sakura would admit she owned some of her boss's masterpieces in her home. Along some of the walls on their own stands were sculptures, descriptions that Sakura had proudly typed herself, and a few other works of art, some of which weren't for sale.

Sakura casually sat down at the front desk and turned on the computer to start the day and enter her time card. It was Friday, and _that_ was always a good day. Musing over what she was going to spend with her paycheck (after bills and groceries were taken out), Sakura didn't even notice the bell on the door chime as someone came in.

"Not paying you to daydream, Sakura," Sasori said in his normal, perfectly serene tone of voice as he closed the door behind him.

Sakura jumped and gave a nervous laugh, "Err… yeah, sorry about that."

"Any calls?" he asked, stopping at her desk. He looked exceptionally tired today and even leaned on the desk slightly, propping his head up with his hand, elbow on the white desk. This was strange behavior for him; usually Sasori was always so calm, his facial expression perfect and angelic.

"No, I just got here a few minutes ago," Sakura replied as she logged in under her username on the computer. She looked at him with concern in her eyes. "Are you feeling all right? You look beat."

"Stayed up late," Sasori sighed, running a tired hand through his short, crimson hair. He stood up straight and looked at her again, "I've got a file I left out from yesterday, think you can organize it for me?"

"Sure, no problem," Sakura nodded.

"Thanks," he said. He was about to head up the stairs to the second floor, where he did most of his artwork, when he stopped, remembering something. "Oh, Sakura, I need you to deliver something for me."

Sakura gave him a confused look, stopping her typing on the computer for a moment. "Okay, where to?"

Sasori took an envelope from his pocket and handed it to her. "The address is on the front – shouldn't take you too long."

"Okay, when do you want me to deliver it."

"Anytime is fine, just tell me before you leave so I can cover the phone."

Sakura gave him a smile and said, "Sure thing." Sasori nodded and walked up the stairs, leaving Sakura to her work. "Okay, I'll organize this file and then deliver this letter." She stopped for a moment, feeling curious. Glancing at the stairs to make sure Sasori was indeed on the second floor, Sakura picked up the envelope he left on her desk and examined the address. It was to an apartment building, but it certainly wasn't one of the nice ones like what she had. The address was brief – it lacked Sasori's usual elegant script and appeared to have been written slightly… sloppily or perhaps in haste. The only name on the address was 'Deidara.'

She paused, thinking for a while. _Deidara_… The name rang a bell, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Before she could ponder the matter further, the phone rang. Time to get back to work.

"Akatsuki Studios, Sakura Haruno speaking, what may I do for you?"

"_Sakura!_"

Sakura cringed when she heard her friend's voice. It was undoubtedly Naruto Uzumaki, another of her friends she had kept in contact with from high school. "Naruto, I'm working now; you know you can't call me."

"_Sorry, Sakura, I forgot. Listen, I heard from Ino that we're doing something cool for your birthday and-_"

"Ino said what?" Sakura asked, surprised.

"_She said she told you she was planning it!_" Naruto sounded slightly panicked, but quickly reverted to his usual hyperactive self. "_Not important! Anyway, Sakura, I was wondering what you wanted for your birthday this year._"

Sakura rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself. "Naruto, I just got done saying, I can't talk right now, I have work to do. I've got to organize a file for Sasori and then deliver a letter."

"_He works you too hard_!"

"No he doesn't, this is the best job I've ever had, now let me get back to work, Naruto." She wasn't irritated with him, Naruto was just over-protective. He knew Sakura was happy with her job.

"_Okay, but call me later so we can talk_!"

"Sure thing. Bye bye!" Quickly hanging up the phone, Sakura sighed with relief. Naruto was fun, but a bit difficult to deal with sometimes. Focusing on the task at hand, she began sorting through the different documents in the folder Sasori had given her. It was mainly filled with meeting times between him and his clients, so all she had to do was organize them by the date they were to occur on.

With a slight frown, Sakura realized why Sasori was so tired lately. He was only twenty-three and yet half the world and their mother (as Sakura put it) was begging for a moment of his time – or a piece of his artwork. It had to be tough.

Putting on her head phones, Sakura put her Kelly Clarkson CD that Hinata had bought her in her CD player. She kept the volume on light so she could hear the phone if it rang again and got to work on organizing that folder. It looked as if Sasori had one to two meetings with clients or other buyers nearly every day. Sakura looked at the stairs with a frown; what a difficult life. It was no wonder he hired her.

When Sakura was about a quarter's way through organizing the folder, the phone rang again. She paused the CD player and answered it. "Akatsuki Studios, Sakura Haruno speaking, how may I help you?"

"_Yes, I'd like to set up a meeting; I'm interested in one of the pieces for sale_."

"Sure, do you have a day and time that is convenient?" Sakura asked politely, though judging by the schedules, she wasn't sure if the guy would get in during that same week.

"_Is there an opening this week?_"

_I knew he'd ask_, Sakura thought. _Damn it…_ "Well, I'm sorry sir, but this week is booked solid. However next week there's an opening on Tuesday if that works for you."

"_Tuesday is fine. Is there a free slot around one p.m.?_"

"Let me check." Sakura fished through the file folder just briefly scanning the dates and times of the meetings. "Yes, one o'clock is fine. I'll set up the meeting for Tuesday under a Mr.?"

"_Nara. Shikaku Nara_."

"Sure thing, Mr. Nara, the meeting is set. Thank you."

"_Thank you_."

After hanging up the phone, Sakura sighed. She just organized another meeting to give Sasori even more stress. It was her job though, and Sasori was paying her to do it, after all. Going back to the folder, she finished organizing the rest of the meetings in order of dates and times. "There, now I'll deliver this letter and when I get back, I'll input these on the computer."

Pushing in her chair after she got up, Sakura walked to the bottom of the stairs and called up. "I finished organizing the folder! I'm going to deliver this letter and I'll input the data on the computer when I get back." She heard Sasori's slightly muffled 'thanks' and took that as a sign to head out, wondering if she would remember this 'Deidara' person if she saw him in person.


	2. Long Time No See

_**Upside-Down**_

_TK Grimm_

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**Chapter Two:**

**Long Time No See**

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Sakura slowly drove her car down the street, scanning apartment buildings as she looked for the one with the right number. It certainly didn't have a very appealing neighborhood, but knowing that she had a clean, comfortable place to come home to gave her warm fuzzy thoughts as she continued on. Finally finding the right one, Sakura parked her car on the side of the road, seeing no driveway, and stepped out. She pondered for a moment about what to do. There was no way to tell if this 'Deidara' person was even home. If he wasn't, was she supposed to just leave the letter in the mailbox? Or on the doorstep? _No, someone could steal it there_._ If Sasori wanted me to deliver it in person instead of through the mail, it must be important_.

Settling on these thoughts, Sakura decided to play it out and see what happened. If Deidara wasn't home, she would decide what to do from there. If he was, she would deliver the letter and be on her way. Walking up the rackety metal stairs to the second floor, Sakura finally made it to the door of Apartment 22. Hoping the address was correct, she carefully knocked on the door.

There wasn't a reply at first, making Sakura begin to fidget with her keys in her trench coat's pocket. She decided to not give up just yet and knocked again. Hearing some movement on the inside, she inwardly sighed with relief that someone was home. The door finally opened, revealing a man about twenty-two or twenty-three, leaning on the doorframe. He had long blonde hair with part of it pulled back in a ponytail. Some of his long bangs came down and covered his left eye, but his right eye was a brilliant shade of blue. He raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to say what she wanted, and then sighed, lighting a cigarette. "What is it?" he asked as he put the lighter away.

Using every ounce of willpower to not nag about the horrible side effects of smoking (she **was** a doctor-in-training after all) Sakura looked at him again, this time more thorough. _God, he looks familiar_. Her sea foam green eyes lit up at realization. "Deidara?"

Raising a blonde eyebrow again, he asked, "Do I know you?"

"Yeah, we went to high school together, remember?" she asked, happy to see another friend. Sakura had lost touch with far too many after high school, so this was refreshing.

He paused, looking her over up and down a few times. "Sakura."

"You remembered," Sakura said with a smile.

Taking a drag at the cigarette, he gave her a sarcastic smirk, "Sort of hard to forget the pink hair… yeah."

"Ah." Her tone had significantly dropped. Trying again with the light conversation she asked, "Wow, what a coincidence. So how've you been?"

It clearly took a lot for him to not use another sarcastic comment, but he settled with, "Surviving. You?"

"Same," she chuckled. "I got a job, going to college; the whole deal."

"_Congratulations_," Deidara said dryly. Sakura knew he didn't really mean it, but put those thoughts in the back of her head. She tried to think of another thing to say, and Deidara, realizing she wasn't leaving any time soon, sighed. "You want to come in, yeah?"

"Sure, thanks," Sakura said with the same smile. Deidara pushed the door open more so she could walk in. The apartment was, to say the least, dull and boring. Judging by the smell, Deidara had probably started smoking long before. _What an awful habit_… Sakura remembered when Sasuke started smoking, and it took everything she had to get him to quit, but he finally did, for her. Sitting down on Deidara's obviously old couch, she played with the strap on her trench coat while speaking. "It's coming back now. You were a senior when I was a freshman at Konoha High."

"That's right," Deidara replied, his tone rather plain as he sat down on the couch as well. To her relief, he extinguished the cigarette and flicked it in the trash can.

"Yeah, you hung out with the bad kids," she chuckled lightly. Her hand immediately clamped over her mouth thinking that she might have offended him. "Err… sorry."

"And you hung out with the preppies, yeah," he sneered, seemingly unbothered by her previous comment.

Not sure if she should be happy he remembered or disappointed with the term 'preppies', Sakura went with the first option. "Yeah. Ino, Hinata and I are still the best of friends. What about you? Still friends with Kisame, Tobi and…" her voice trailed off. _Sasori_!

"Not so much," Deidara said. "I see Kisame every so often, but Tobi got some scholarship… yeah." He gave a fake laugh, "And here I didn't think the idiot would amount to anything."

Avoiding subjects that resulted in random insults or sarcastic comments, Sakura moved on, voice still pleasant. "I remember you guys used to go around school in your little 'gang' thing, Akatsuki."

"And you were Principal Tsunade's little kiss-ass, yeah."

"Ouch," she sighed, though he did speak the truth. Deciding to play along, she continued, "Got me out of more trouble than you can speak for, though didn't it?"

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Unlike you, cherry chick, I never got caught."

Sakura rolled her eyes in amusement. Again, he spoke the truth. He and those other Akatsuki guys got away with a lot of stuff, making them _very_ notorious and popular in school as 'bad boys.' That was probably where Sasori got the name for his art studio. That reminded Sakura that she still technically on the clock and had to get back to work. "Oh, well I was supposed to deliver this to you," she said, taking the envelope out of her pocket. "I work at Akatsuki Studios, ironically enough."

Deidara gave her a weary glance before taking the envelope. "Sasori told you to give this to me, yeah?"

"That's right," Sakura nodded. She remembered from high school that Deidara and Sasori were best friends. It was strange to see how… well, different they turned out as adults. She saw both of them going far with their talents; they excelled in art big time.

As soon as Deidara opened the envelope he scowled and gave it back to her. "Give it back. Tell him I'm not interested in his charity."

"Charity?"

"Read it yourself, I don't care… yeah," Deidara said standing up.

Sakura took that as her silent sign to leave. She stood up and walked towards the door. "Well, it was nice seeing you again."

"Yeah."

"Maybe we'll run into each other sometime."

"Maybe," Deidara replied half-heartedly. He seemed a bit bitter about whatever was in the letter.

Sakura gave him an encouraging smile and waved goodbye before leaving. Deidara stepped outside, leaning on the railing. He appeared to be staring at the sky as she walked down the stairs, heading towards her car. She unlocked the door and gave him one last look. It was a shame… such talent and no desire to do anything with it. Or perhaps there was more to the story than what she was able to decipher in their short meeting.

Deidara seemed to catch on that she was looking at him and returned her gaze. After one last smile, she got in her car and drove away. He watched her car disappear before walking back inside his apartment. Sakura hadn't changed a bit; she was still just a preppy little girl with the perfect life that everyone around her was envious of.

When Sakura made it back to work, she found Sasori typing something on the computer at her desk. He glanced at her with his amber eyes and continued typing as he talked. "Did he take it?"

Sakura bit her lip, though the expression on his face and tone of his voice told her that Sasori didn't expect Deidara to accept the letter. At a red light, Sakura had looked inside the envelope. There was a letter in there that she didn't read (it wasn't any of her business) and a blank check. "No, he didn't."

Sasori sighed and stopped typing. "How did he take it?" he asked, standing up and turning in her direction.

"He seemed a bit bitter," Sakura said hesitantly. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," Sasori said, accepting the letter when she gave it back to him. "Did he say anything?"

Sakura paused again, "He said… well…" She cringed slightly, "He said he didn't want your… your charity." Sasori's facial expression remained impassive; again, he probably saw this coming. Unable to hold in her curiosity, Sakura couldn't help but ask the next question. "Sasori, what happened to you two? I remember in high school you two were really close." He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, like best friends," she said quickly. _I can't believe I just insinuated my boss was gay_… _Oh, please don't fire me!_

"We started Akatsuki Studios after high school, we got in a fight, he left." Sasori's tone was rather blunt and his description was vague, but it would have to suffice for now. Sakura sighed, deciding she probably shouldn't ask any more questions.

"Well, I'm going to get started with these meetings," Sakura said, replacing her frown with a smile. "I still have to input them on the computer."

During Sakura's lunch break, she called Ino on her cell phone, asking if they were getting together. "I've got an hour, what do you say?"

"_Sorry, Sakura_," Ino apologized. "_Hinata and I have clients coming out our ears; it's crazy. I'm on my lunch break, too, but I probably only have fifteen minutes._"

"Oh, don't worry about it," Sakura assured. "It's no big deal. Hey, guess who I saw today."

"_Who_?"

"Deidara, from high school. Do you remember him?"

There was a pause, "_Yeah, I think so. Blonde hair, right_?"

"Yeah, that's right," Sakura smiled. "Wow, you know, I was always told you'd lose touch after high school, but I never thought we'd lose as many people as we did. It was nice to see him again."

"_Yeah, I bet. You've got a point though, I mean, we used to be close to Tenten, but I haven't talked to her since graduation_."

"It's too bad," Sakura said. "Well, I'll let you get back to work. Let's meet for lunch Sunday maybe?"

"_Sure, if I'm free. Bye, Sakura_."

"Bye, Ino." Sakura hung up her cell phone and contemplated options for lunch. Unfortunately, it was true. Sakura had lost a lot of friends after high school, losing touch with most of them. After graduation, everyone just went their separate ways. Some went to different colleges, some got jobs, and some went traveling. It was a bit of a damper on her social life, but Sakura still had Hinata and Ino, plus with work and college, there just wasn't a lot of free time to spend socializing anyway.

After work, she clocked out and told Sasori the usual, "Good night, don't work too hard!" before getting in her car and heading home. She pulled into her driveway and after checking her mailbox, she unlocked the door to her apartment. "Yuki!" she called making mewing sounds to call her house cat. Naturally, Yuki the black shorthair had other ideas and chose to ignore her as she continued sleeping on the couch.

Sakura sighed and closed the front door. She hung up her coat and left her shoes on the mat. With a slight groan of pain, she sat down on the couch. It was five in the afternoon and her feet already ached. "I guess that means I should take it easy on the high heels, huh?" she asked to no one in particular as she scratched Yuki behind the ears.

The sound of her cell phone ringing made her jump slightly. Sakura smiled, recognizing the personalized ring tone. She assigned the song 'Temperature' by Sean Paul to ring whenever Sasuke called her from his cell. Opening it, she said, "_Hello_, darling," in a teasing tone.

"_Hey, babe_," Sasuke's voice came through the phone as calm and cool as ever. "_How was your day_?"

"Great!" Sakura exclaimed. "I went to breakfast with the girls and work was easy-peasy. What about you?"

"_Same as ever_," Sasuke sighed. Sakura noticed he had been exceedingly stressed out lately.

"Hard day at the office?" she asked with a slight frown.

"_Yeah, but don't worry about it. We still on for Saturday?_"

Grinning, Sakura replied, "Of course! I get off work at four."

"_See you then_."

"You bet. Love you."

"_Love you, too_." Later that night, after dinner and a nice hot shower, she picked out a simple pair of pajamas and sleepily crawled in bed. Turning out the lights, Sakura was soon able to fall into a peaceful slumber, not realizing she forgot to set her alarm clock.

* * *

"_Sakura, w-we're going to be late!" Hinata panicked as the two of them raced down the hall._

_Sakura bit her lip in frustration. "Not good… I don't think that's a very good first impression for our teachers. First day in high school and we can't even find our class!"_

_They stopped running. Sakura was frantically searching the map and looking around the hallway. "What do we do?" Hinata asked. _I should have came early_, she thought._ I wouldn't be lost if I found my class earlier!

"_Don't worry, we'll find it," Sakura said. Though she was calm on the outside, she was panicking inside. She had to be strong, if not for her than for Hinata. Oh, why didn't she just stay with Temari! Temari was a junior; she could have showed her where the first room was! "Okay, I think I got it," Sakura said at last. "Follow me, Hinata!" She took Hinata's hand and the two girls ran as fast as they could, hoping to not get caught by any of the hall monitors._

_Turning a sharp corner, Sakura collided head-on with another student causing both of them to fall down. The boy rubbed his head painfully and gave her a slightly annoyed look. "Watch where you're going, yeah?"_

"_I'm so sorry!" Sakura shrieked, her hands flying to her mouth in embarrassment. Hinata helped her up and both of them apologized several times._

_The blonde looked at his red haired friend and then back at the two in front of them. "You're freshmen, aren't you?"_

_Hinata was about to say 'yes' but Sakura clamped her hand over her friend's mouth. These two guys were obviously juniors or seniors, and she knew full well from several high school movies what they did to freshmen! There was __**no way**__ she was going to fall into __**that**__ trap! "No we're not!" Sakura said quickly. "W-what makes you think that?"_

_The red haired one raised an eyebrow, looking at them with what Sakura swore was an amused expression. "You seem… lost."_

"_We're not lost," Sakura said, pretending to giggle even though it came out sounding more like a nervous laugh. "We were… we're skipping first block."_

"_Ne, Sasori, you hear that?" the blonde grinned. "These two 'non-freshmen' are skipping first block… yeah."_

"_Interesting," Sasori said quietly, calculating the situation._

_Sakura felt her heart going at least a hundred beats a second, and judging by the look on Hinata's face, she was terrified as well. Putting on her best brave face, Sakura faced them and said, "That's right, we're skipping. So what are __**you**__ two doing when you should be in class?"_

_Sasori's companion smirked again. He gripped Sakura's chin and examined her face. "You think you're pretty tough, don't you, chick?"_

_Resisting the urge to slap his hand away, Sakura kept up her brave façade. "I'd like to think so, yeah."_

_He glanced at Sasori, who rolled his eyes, shaking his head once. "It's not worth it, Deidara."_

"_Yeah, yeah," Deidara sighed, letting go of Sakura. "Just so you know… the freshmen classes are down that hallway," he said, taking Sakura by the shoulders and turning her around._

_She whirled around and gave him as much of a glare as she could muster. "We're not freshmen!"_

"_I like your attitude… yeah," Deidara grinned. "See you around, cherry chick."_

"_You arroga-"_

"_S-Sakura, come on," Hinata urged, pulling Sakura down the hallway. "I see our class…"_

* * *

Sakura woke up to the blinding sunlight that leaked its way into her room. She rolled over and buried her head under her pillow with a sleepy groan. A few thoughts about her dream the night before passed through her mind until she realized that the sun was up. She lifted the pillow to glance at the clock and screamed.

It was ten a.m. – Sakura was supposed to be at work two hours ago. "Oh my God, I'm late!" she panicked, leaping out of bed and rummaging through her closet to find something to wear. With incredible speed, she put on a quick, purple sundress and ran into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and pulled her hair up into a messy bun; there was no time for an elaborate hair style.

Grabbing an orange from the fruit basket on the table, she grabbed her keys, slipped on flip-flop sandals, and rushed out the door. She closed it and raced to her car, unlocking the door with the button on her car key. With her eyes on the rear view mirror, Sakura backed out of the driveway and drove to Akatsuki Studios, not caring that she went through several red lights far over the speed limit.

She pulled into the little parking lot and drove towards her usual spot by the door. Sasori's red Camaro was already there, making her stomach churn like butter. However when she went to park in her usual spot, she saw a 1979 black Pontiac Trans Am in her way. Pushing her frustration to the side, she drove around again and quickly parked in a different place.

Sakura nearly jumped out of her car and slammed the door to the Tommy Kaira shut. The sound made her cringe, but she wasn't concerned for her car at the moment. She was concerned with her job! Racing towards the front door, Sakura opened it right away and after taking a huge gasp of air, spoke quickly in one breath, "Sasori, I'm so sorry! I slept in, I didn't mean to, it'll never happen again, I pro-" She froze immediately when she saw the sight before her, eyes wide.

Sasori was sitting at the desk holding a file folder, and Deidara was sitting on top of the desk munching on an apple. Both of them were staring at her with raised eyebrows.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable, Sakura slowly backed up towards the ladies' restroom, "Um… I'll just go… wash my hands or something…"

"Sakura."


	3. Dinner For Two

_**Upside-Down**_

_TK Grimm_

* * *

**Chapter Three:**

**Dinner for Two**

* * *

"Sakura," Sasori said, standing up. He looked at her with what appeared to be an – dare she raise her hopes – amused smile.

"Please don't fire me!" she panicked, face red with embarrassment. "I love my job!"

For the first time in a long time, she saw Sasori laugh. He covered his mouth with the back of his hand, but he was chuckling nonetheless. "I'm not going to fire you," he said. "You've got a perfect record. Just be careful next time."

"I will!" Sakura promised, nearly tripping over one of the legs of the coat rack. That only served to knock it down. It hit the floor with a _clang_ making Sakura's eyes widen in horror. "I'm – so – sorry!" she squeaked, kneeling down and standing the coat rack back up.

That was when she noticed that Deidara was holding his sides in laughter. Sakura felt her face grow hot, sure it was at least fifty shades of red. "I guess some things never change, yeah," Deidara managed to smirk.

Sasori elbowed him, giving him a warning look, before sending Sakura an encouraging smile. "Sakura, there are a few file folders on the desk, think you could take care of those for me?"

"S-sure thing," Sakura replied softly, her eyes glued to the floor. She was quite positive that at this point, the day couldn't get any worse. Not wanting to look at either one of them, she sat down at the desk and opened the first file folder, searching for something to distract her.

"Sakura," Sasori said again, making her look up at him. The corners of his mouth tugged upwards slightly, and she absolutely refused to see Deidara's expression. It was high school all over again.

Sakura looked where Sasori had pointed and nearly fell out of her chair. When the coat rack had fallen, she dropped her purse in the panic. And naturally, everything fell out. She really needed a new one; that zipper was no good. She stood up and walked over to it, kneeling down again and putting everything back in the purse. _Don't look up. Whatever you do… don't look up. Don't look at them or it'll be the end and you'll die of embarrassment_. Not like she hadn't already.

The room was too quiet. Sakura was sure that Deidara and Sasori had been talking about something before she barged in being late. But now it was silent, and she knew full well they were watching her, waiting to see what amusing stunt she'd pull next. When she had collected all of the items, she zipped up her purse and stood up, examining it to make sure it wouldn't unzip itself again.

Sakura sat down at the desk again and finally found the courage to look at her boss. "Um…if you want me to leave you two alone-" she saw the expression on his face and quickly recovered, "er, I mean, to talk! I think I interrupted something…"

"No, I was just leaving, yeah," Deidara said. He slid off the desk and walked towards the door, glancing back at her with a smirk before heading out.

"So…" Sakura said, trying to start a conversation. "Did you two make up?" Her eyes widened and she clamped her hand over her mouth. "I-I mean! A-a-are you friends again?" _Oh my God I can't believe I just insinuated they were gay… __**twice now**_!

As if he could sense her thoughts, Sasori didn't mention her 'slip-up.' "Not really," he said, resting his head on his hand with his elbow on the desk as usual. He looked at her with his amber eyes still gleaming with amusement. "He actually came here to yell at me for insulting him with that blank check."

Sakura cringed, "I… I see…"

Sasori looked at her for a moment; he appeared to be contemplating something. Finally speaking, he asked, "You talked to him when you stopped by his apartment yesterday, right?"

"Yeah, we caught up a little," Sakura replied, looking at him with a slightly confused expression.

"Good. We'll give him the weekend to cool off, and you can talk to him Monday," Sasori decided as he stood up straight and headed towards the stairs.

"Wait, what?" Sakura asked, completely lost.

He tilted his head to the side to look at her, "You're good with words; convince him to stop being such a brat and get over the fight we had a year ago." He paused before adding, "Don't worry. You can take care of it after work; I'll add it as overtime."

Not wanting to piss him off, especially since he didn't fire her for being late and was offering her precious overtime cash, Sakura was quite hesitant to ask, "But… uh, sir… if he's _your_ friend… shouldn't you be the one to talk to him…?" Sasori gave her a knowing smile before heading upstairs to his private studio to work on the current art piece, whatever it was. Sakura never went up there because she didn't want to disturb him.

What was she supposed to say to Deidara? It was like in school, where one friend tells you to tell another friend that you're not speaking to them and so on. _They're both acting like children if you ask me_, Sakura huffed. With this settled, she opened the folder again and got to work. She didn't have time to rehearse methods of getting Deidara and Sasori to be friends again. It was Saturday. She had a date with Sasuke today. **That** was _far_ more important. Satisfied with this way of thinking, Sakura went back to her work, hoping that by keeping her mind busy, the time would go by all the faster.

By 3:50, she was on the edge of her seat. Sakura stared at the clock, trying to glare it into submission. It was as if she could telekinetically move the minute sign to the 12 on the clock to magically make it 4:00 so she could leave. She loved her job, but it was Saturday for crying out loud! Party day! _Sasuke_ day!

There was a soft _ding_ heard from the computer, causing Sakura to turn her head in confusion. She tilted her head to the side, surprised. _An e-mail?_ she thought. Clicking on the icon that appeared in the corner of her screen, Sakura opened it. It was ten minutes until her shift was over, so she didn't feel too guilty about checking her mail before she left.

_**To: GreenSea13 (a) hotmail . com  
From: SmexayBlonde (a) hotmail . com  
Date: March 1  
Subject: birthday bish!**_

_hey forehead! hinata and i are going to temari's club tomorrow to help with stuff, youre coming right? oh and naruto was complaining about you not calling him back. call him so he stops bitching at me! anyways still working on your birthday plans. i got a few people on board already, i think youre really gonna love it!_

_much love!_

_xxxInoxxx_

Sakura rolled her eyes in amusement. It was rather typical of Ino to send her an e-mail about absolutely nothing. And, naturally, her grammar was completely off. The front door opened, forcing her attention in that direction. Sakura felt her heart leap when she saw that it was Sasuke. He was still in his business suit and appeared to be arguing with someone on his cell phone, but he did show up nonetheless. He didn't miss their date, and she never doubted him.

Sakura winked at him, giving him the one-minute sign by holding up her index finger and walked to the bottom of the staircase. "Sasori, I'm heading out for the day. I'll see you Monday. Take it easy; don't work too hard, okay?" Hearing his usual 'yeah okay' reply, Sakura smiled and started gathering her stuff. "All set!" she exclaimed, but quickly grew quiet when she remembered Sasuke was on the phone. He merely nodded in her direction and walked back outside the studio.

She got in her car and waited for Sasuke to pull out of the parking lot first. Seeing his Lamborghini Mercielago drive out, Sakura followed him. Whenever he met her after work, he was usually on his phone, but that was only because he just got off work. Sasuke was practically the glue holding Uchiha Corporations together, after all. Basically everyone depended on him. Certain that she was glad she was in her own car and not the same with him (he was always in a foul mood just after work), she continued following him as he drove to whatever restaurant they were going to that day.

By the time they arrived at the restaurant, Sasuke was finally off the phone. He appeared to be in a much better mood now that he was off work and could finally enjoy himself. They entered through the front door and approached the man at the counter. "We have a reservation under Uchiha," Sasuke said. Sakura blushed slightly, smiling proudly that Sasuke had reserved them a place ahead of time.

"Right this way, sir," the man replied, taking two menus off the stand to his right and leading them to their table. "Do you need to see a wine list, sir?"

Sasuke paused for a moment, making the decision in his head. "Bring a bottle of Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey." The waiter nodded and walked away.

Sakura raised an eyebrow, speaking in a suggestive tone, "Someone's feeling expensive tonight."

"Only the best," Sasuke replied. Sakura blushed slightly and looked away, smiling. She wasn't really shy, but she knew Sasuke was a sucker for that look. Not to mention, she was rather pleased with him that evening. He met her right on time, he reserved a nice restaurant, got an expensive bottle of wine (it amused her to no end that no one bothered to ask if he was twenty-one), and even came up with the charming lines to top it all off.

Sasuke had already turned twenty, but that meant he had a year to go before he turned twenty-one. Of course, being one of the heirs to one of the most industrious and money-making companies in the world, Sakura couldn't think of anyone who had ever refused him. Either the waiter was afraid Sasuke would find an excuse to sue him or he was expecting a generous tip. Whenever Sakura was around, Sasuke did indeed tip generously, but only because it made her smile.

"Temari is reopening that old club down on Fifth Street," Sakura brought up, starting conversation.

"The _Elixur_?" Sasuke asked, curiosity evident.

"That's right," Sakura nodded. "Ino, Hinata and I are volunteering tomorrow to help her out. We all have the day off, and she's a good friend, so we thought it would be nice. Plus, it'll be good bonding time for us girls."

"When is she opening it?"

Sakura paused, trying to remember. "Not sure yet, actually. I think it depends on when all the renovations, hiring, and decorating is done. There's a lot to consider before you can announce opening day."

"True," Sasuke agreed.

"So how was your day?" It was usually Sakura who started their conversations, but she didn't seem to mind. She usually had a lot to talk about anyway.

The waiter returned and casually set two glasses in front them, pouring the golden wine into each one. Sasuke shrugged, "Mostly full of data calculations. It figures that right at the end of the day everyone in the building needs my help on all floors." He nodded to the waiter, who left the bottle and took his leave, signaling for a waitress to pick up where he left off.

"Sounds like a pain," Sakura said sympathetically. Sasuke's job was a lot more stressful than hers was. She was lucky to have Sasori as a boss – he never had too much work for her to do, and what she did was fairly simple. Since Sasuke was the heir to the corporation, aside from his older brother, Itachi, he had a lot of responsibilities and jobs that Sakura didn't have to worry about. Sure, she had her medical classes at the university on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays to add to work, but she still managed to get everything done and keep her stress on balanced levels.

Staring a new conversation, Sakura mentioned, "Ino's planning something for my birthday this year." She noticed Sasuke visibly tense but said nothing of it. "I can't help but wonder what she'll cook up."

"Yeah…" Sasuke replied, his tone revealing that his mind was elsewhere. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but decided not to press the issue. Perhaps Sasuke just forgot about her birthday while caught up in work.

"Don't worry, Sasuke," Sakura assured. "My birthday really isn't a big deal. It's not as important as it is when you're a kid."

He looked at her for a moment, but all he said was, "No… it's important." _Perhaps he's planning something after all_, Sakura wondered. Putting these thoughts to the back of her mind, she smiled at the waitress who appeared to take their orders. As soon as she left to deliver the information to the cooks, Sasuke asked, "What time do you get off Monday?"

"I get off at four, as usual, but I'm taking some overtime Monday afternoon," Sakura said. Sasuke was a rather jealous boyfriend, so she decided it was best to be vague with what she was doing during that overtime.

"Overtime? That's unusual for you." So damn perceptive.

Sakura nodded, brushing it off as if it were nothing. "Yeah, Sasori wants me to talk to one of his old colleagues and see if he'll come back to the studio."

"Oh? What's his name?" Sasuke asked with genuine curiosity. "I might know him; I can put in a good word for you." At least he had good intentions.

"Thanks, Sasuke, but I don't think he's one of your friends," Sakura said politely. "Do you remember Deidara, from high school? He used to hang out with your brother and their friends." She couldn't help but notice the flash of anger that passed through his eyes at the mention of the word 'brother' and immediately regretted mentioning that last part.

"Yeah, I remember," Sasuke said, pushing the thoughts of his brother to the back of his head. Itachi was the last thing he wanted to think about at that time, or ever for that matter. "So Sasori wants him to work in the studio? Why doesn't he just go get him himself?"

_Great, he's already grumpy_, Sakura inwardly sighed. "He's busy, that's all. Plus, I don't mind. It's not a big deal, and the overtime will be nice. I get a nice bonus for overtime hours." Sasuke was clearly considering this in his mind before he finally nodded, giving in. Sakura mentally patted herself on the back; she had made a very valid point. Perhaps Sasori was right. Maybe she _did_ have a way with words.

_All righty, Deidara; I think I'll put this theory to the test_.


	4. The Stubbornness of Men

_**Upside-Down**_

_TK Grimm_

* * *

**Chapter Four:**

**The Stubbornness of Men**

* * *

Sakura stared at the door to Deidara's apartment for a while, wondering what she was going to say to him. What exactly made it her responsibility to settle the fight between Deidara and Sasori, especially if she didn't even know what they had fought about? Searching her brain, she couldn't find an answer. Maybe Sasori just thought it would be easier because Deidara was a little less hostile towards her than he was towards Sasori. Finally, she reached her hand up to knock on the door, but before she could, it opened.

Deidara was clearly on his way out; he had nearly bumped into her after opening the door. Before he could say anything, Sakura put her hands behind her back and looked away, "Oh, you're busy, um… sorry, I'll come back at another time."

Sakura turned around to leave, but Deidara's voice stopped her. "Wait." She turned around, tilting her head slightly and giving him a quizzical look. He paused, wondering what to say.

"Don't worry about it," Sakura said lightly with a slightly embarrassed smile. Every time she was around Deidara, she seemed to do something rather klutzy that made her look like an idiot. It was probably better that he had plans so she could save herself from further embarrassment. "It's nothing!"

"Come with me, yeah," Deidara said spontaneously, ignoring what she had said before.

Sakura's eyes widened momentarily, "S-say what?"

He ignored her for a moment, taking her wrist as he led her down the metal staircase to the ground level. "You want to talk, we'll talk. You can just come with me." Approaching his Trans Am, he effortlessly unlocked the door.

Sakura resisted the urge to ask if the old 1979 vehicle could still run _safely_ and instead asked, "Wait, where are you going?"

Deidara opened the door to the driver's seat and glanced at her, "I have to meet Hidan – it won't take long… yeah."

Sakura hesitated, looking at the car. Sasori told her she could take as long as she needed… maybe she would need this time. It was certainly better than filing papers and answering the phone back at the studio… With that thought, she opened the door and sat down in the passenger seat. Buckling her seat belt, she felt slightly uneasy seeing that Deidara didn't bother with his. "That's really unsafe, you know. You should buckle your safety belt."

"What are you, a mother?" Deidara scoffed, starting the car. Sakura frowned and looked towards the floor mats, choosing not to reply. Besides, remarking to sarcasm would most likely serve no purpose. Deidara noticed she was suddenly quiet but chose not to comment.

Looking around, Sakura noticed that the condition of his car was far surpassing to that of his apartment. It was clearly well-taken care of – Deidara struck her eye right away as one of those guys who takes care of his car like a baby. She rolled her eyes, smiling slightly.

"What's got you all giddy, yeah?" Deidara asked, grinning slightly as he drove down the road.

"Nothing," Sakura giggled. "You just… have interesting tastes." They had stopped at a red light, so Sakura took the time to point at the phoenix on the hood. It was normal to see a golden phoenix on the old 70s Trans Ams, but this one looked rather unique. It wasn't just an outline like the regular ones. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Sakura asked, "Where did you get a decal like that? I would like to pay the maker of that a visit and see what he can do for my car."

Deidara glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, but the light turned green so he tapped the pedal with his foot and continued driving. "It's not for sale," was all he said.

Sakura looked at him with a slight frown, "How did you get yours then? Now you're just making me jealous."

"You like it, huh?" he asked, his voice lacking the usual sarcasm.

Sakura leaned forward slightly to look at the phoenix again. Even though from her point of view it was upside-down, she still found it very artistic and actually did want one of her own. Perhaps not a phoenix, but maybe something neat for her little Tommy Kaira. "Yeah, it's really nice. I want to get one for my car."

"You won't find it in a store," Deidara informed as he took a right turn. Sakura looked at him with a confused expression. "I painted it." Her jaw dropped. Though she was at a loss for words, her expression said it all. Feeling slightly unnerved, he said, "Don't look at me like that, yeah…"

"You _painted_ that?" Sakura asked, shocked. She remembered that Deidara was exceptionally good in art class back in high school, but she didn't know it was still a hobby for him. Perhaps he and Sasori had an argument about art, and that's why they weren't speaking to each other anymore. _Nah… they're guys, but they're not __**that**__ bad… are they?_

"Yeah," Deidara replied as he pulled into a driveway. "Like a birthday present to me, sorta. You wait here."

"Okay." Deidara stepped out of the car and walked up to the first door of the apartment building. Sakura was quite surprised; she hadn't noticed before, but this was her neighborhood. The apartment buildings were all very nice. Each apartment was separated slightly and had it's own driveway. They were small, but like little houses for rent only cheaper. Momentarily, Sakura wondered who Deidara knew that lived in one of these nice places. Then again, she also found herself wondering why Deidara lived in such a dingy one.

_Wait, that's rude_… she thought, mentally scolding herself. It wasn't his fault the place was… Sakura searched her brain for a word that didn't sound 'bad' in her mind. _Run down… cheap… low maintenance… ugh, all of these are bad._

The door to the driver's seat opened, waking her from her thoughts, and Deidara sat back down. He ran a stressed out hand through his hair and sighed as he started the car back up. Putting one hand on the head rest and the other on the well, he kept his eyes on the back window to make sure he didn't hit anything. Sakura couldn't help but chuckle, remembering the time she hit the mailbox.

"Someone's a bit too cheerful, yeah," Deidara said, eyes still towards the back.

"Sorry," Sakura said with a soft laugh. "I was just thinking of this time when I ran over the mailbox at my place."

"Way to go," Deidara smirked, flashing her an amused glance.

"That reminds me, you know, I live on this street, too," Sakura told him. She reached over the driver's side and pointed at her apartment. Just as Deidara expected, there was a perfectly mowed lawn, flowers growing around the apartment, and some sort of dark fuzz ball sleeping on the windowsill. Realizing that she was rather close, leaning over him like that just to identify her place, Sakura quickly sat back down and refastened her seat belt. Before Deidara could throw out one of his sarcastic comments that she expected (though wouldn't have gotten) she brought up the first subject she could think of. "That's my kitty there in the window, Yuki."

"How typical," Deidara smirked as he drove out of the neighborhood. "Cherry chick and a cat… yeah."

"I finally remembered last night where that name came from," Sakura brought up with a playful glare.

Deidara raised an eyebrow though kept his gaze on the road. "Thinking about me at night now, are you?"

Blushing slightly, Sakura quickly switched her gaze to the window. "**No**. I had a dream about it."

At this, Deidara laughed, "Oh, and _that's _so much better."

Panicking, Sakura clamped her hand over her mouth. She looked at him frantically, "T-that's not what I meant!"

"Sorry, I don't date freshmen," Deidara said, still laughing.

"You jerk!" Sakura exclaimed, using every ounce of willpower to hold in her laughter. "First of all, I'm _not_ a freshman! Secondly, I happen to be in a relationship already, and I am very happy, so there."

"Congratulations," he drawled, laughter finally calmed down. Deidara seemed to have more of a bored expression on now.

Feeling victorious, Sakura finally decided to bring up the reason she wanted to see him. "Actually, I'm here on business again."

Deidara sighed, all traces of a smile now gone. "What does he want this time?"

"What happened to you two?" Sakura asked suddenly. "You used to be such good friends. I mean… you were jerks since you picked on Gaara nearly every day, but-"

"Hey, that kid deserved it," Deidara said, feeling the corners of his mouth tug up slightly. This girl was certainly amusing, he'd give her that. "Being emo all the time, saying he hated everyone."

"That doesn't give you the right to be a jerk, you bully!" she scolded, giving him a playful punch in the shoulder.

"Oh and hitting me makes it better, yeah?" Deidara countered. "Didn't you ever hear two wrongs don't make a right?"

Sakura grinned. Two can play at this game. "Didn't **you** ever hear to pick on someone your own size?"

"I'd like to think you're taking on more than 'your own size' right now," he grinned slyly.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Anyway, seriously, what did you and Sasori fight about? I thought for sure you both would be in Akatsuki Studios working together."

"We did at first, yeah," Deidara told her. He started to slow down as he entered the neighborhood his apartment building was in. "We had a fight and I left."

"What did you fight about?" Sakura asked again, her tone soft. She expected something really serious and possibly slightly heart breaking.

"It was stupid…" Deidara started, parking the car on the side of the road in front of Sakura's Tommy Kaira. "It was an art disagreement."

Sakura raised a delicate eyebrow for a moment but decided to give them more credit than that and asked, again gently, "What happened?"

"Sasori thinks that art's something that lasts forever, yeah," Deidara said, getting out of the car. Sakura followed suit. "That's just lame – art is something quick; it's something amazing and beautiful that's there for a moment and then gone the next."

Sakura tapped her foot slightly, looking at him with a skeptical expression. "You and Sasori fought about _that_?"

"Sorta… yeah."

The pink haired woman couldn't help but sigh. This was just as childish as she originally believed it wouldn't be. That's the last time she gave _them_ credit. "And, out of curiosity, how important does it sound now that you say it out loud?"

"Not very."

"That's what I thought. You shouldn't let different ideas get in the way of a friendship," Sakura told him with a smile. "Besides," she added, looking at the phoenix on the Trans Am with envy, "from what I can see, both of you are artistic geniuses."

"Oh, _thanks_," Deidara replied.

"So… consider coming back to Akatsuki Studios?" she asked with a hopeful smile.

Deidara paused for a moment, thinking it over. He looked at Sakura. She was standing near the passenger side of his car, looking at him with the most adorable, beautiful, babying expression he'd ever seen. She was always good at that, as far as he could remember. That, and her attitude, made her his favorite freshman. He smirked slightly. "Maybe."

Sakura's smile broadened when he winked at her, silently telling her that he would go back. In her mind, she was on Cloud 9. It couldn't get more perfect. Perhaps Sasori would be generous enough to give her a nice little bonus for her success with Deidara. Deidara turned slightly, leaning against his car as he pulled out a cigarette from his pocket. Sakura immediately frowned, pulled away from her 'happy place' thoughts. "That's really bad for you."

"I know," Deidara said, holding the cigarette in his mouth as he fumbled with the lighter. After lighting the end, he put the lighter back in his pocket and exhaled, smoke coming from his mouth. Seeing her displeased look, he sighed. "Don't look at me like that. I didn't smoke in the car while you were there, yeah."

"No, but you're smoking now," Sakura pointed out. "Did you know that smoking contributes to at least 30 percent of all cancer deaths?"

"Thank you Discovery Channel," Deidara replied sarcastically, shooting her a look that had 'don't lecture me' written all over it.

If anything, that only fueled Sakura further. She stomped up to him, inwardly frustrated that her flip-flops weren't making the menacing sounds boots or high heels would have, and pulled the cigarette right from his mouth. "I'm not going to sit here and watch you poison yourself."

"What are you, some kind of health nut?" he asked, feeling his temper rise. Deidara wasn't necessarily angry at Sakura, more at the fact that she took his cigarette, but that could change in a matter of seconds.

"**Actually**," Sakura began, temper rising as well, "I'm a student at the University; I'm studying to be a doctor."

"Typical," he sneered.

"Are you aware that every thirty seconds, someone dies because of lung cancer?" she asked, tone showing that she wasn't going to back down.

"Are _**you**_ aware that out of every ten people that try to quit, fewer than one actually succeed?"

Sakura was quiet for a while, but finally, she was able to reply to that, though her voice was a bit small. "The people who **do **succeed are the ones with close friends supporting them in that decision."

Deidara closed his eyes, counting to ten in his head. When he had calmed down, he looked at her. She had already dropped the cigarette and stepped on it. Again… _One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten_. "Look. I appreciate your concern, yeah. But it's not exactly any of your business," he concluded, tilting his head slightly, the frown evident on his face.

Sakura sighed in defeat. He had a point. They weren't exactly 'friends' after all. More like reunited acquaintances. But still… that wasn't right. She wasn't going to sit back and watch as he withered away because of a stupid addiction. Calming herself down, she spoke in a lighter tone, not angry, but still firm. "I'm sorry. I realize it's none of my business, but I care about you, and I don't want to see you destroy yourself because of those!" she finished as she pointed at the pack in his pocket.

Deidara inwardly sighed; this girl wasn't going to quit until she heard what she wanted. Changing the subject to the first thing he could think of, he plastered a cocky smirk on his face and said, "So let me get this straight. First you _dream _about me, and now you're admitting that you **care** about me?" He put his hand on his heart with, pretending to be touched by her sentiments. "Oh, cherry chick, I don't know what to say."

"Watch it," she said with a warning glare, even though she knew the corners of her lips were tugging up in a smile. It wasn't long before she couldn't help but giggle. She waved her hand at him a few times, dismissing his victory grin. "Yeah, yeah, don't get too used to it," Sakura continued, trying to sound 'tough.'

Deidara gave a dramatic sigh, "Oh, what a pity, yeah." Sakura smiled at him, and seeing that look forced him to smile back. Something about her outgoing, caring personality was just enough to draw anyone in. It was impossible not to like her. He frowned slightly at the next thought – it was no wonder she wasn't single. Putting these thoughts away, he asked, "You want to come in for a while?"

Sakura thought for a moment, considering her options. She wanted to, she would admit to that. After finding out that Deidara had hand painted the phoenix on his car, she wondered what other masterpieces lay hidden in his apartment. If she didn't know better, he was possibly as talented as Sasori. Maybe that's why they started Akatsuki Studios together.

But then a few other thoughts passed into her mind. Sasuke was her boyfriend. He already didn't like the fact that her overtime was being spent with Deidara when they could have gone on another date or even back to his place for a while. Sakura promised to visit him as soon as she was free that evening, and it was already getting late. Unfortunately, she knew that Sasuke's jealous side would probably land them into another fight if he knew she had stayed with Deidara after – even if just to look at some of his art pieces or just to talk and catch up.

"I'm really sorry, Deidara," she said honestly, meeting his gaze once more. "I really want to, but I promised Sasuke I'd go to his place after work, otherwise I'd take you up on that offer."

Deidara nodded in understanding, the smile never faltering, even if it had in his mind. "Don't worry about it," he said simply. "Maybe next time."

"Sure thing," Sakura said. She slowly walked back to her car; though she couldn't see to be sure, she knew Deidara was still watching her. After unlocking it, she found herself hesitating to open the door. Looking back at him, her thoughts were confirmed. "Deidara?"

"Yeah?"

Another pause. "I'm really glad I saw you again last week. It was nice to catch up."

This time, Deidara hesitated. "Yeah… it was."

She had to go. Sakura had to, she knew this. She had to get in her car and drive away, but she hesitated. "Oh!" she remembered, walking back over to him. "How about I give you my number? You can call me sometime, and we can get together and, I don't know, have a cup of coffee or something. You can show me more art pieces like this," she added, gesturing towards his car.

Deidara raised an eyebrow, smirking at her. Was it that hard for her to leave? Oh, he noticed all right. "All right, I'll give you mine, too. Got a pen?"

* * *

"Success!" Sakura exclaimed as she drove down the road. She was on her way home, talking to Sasori on her cell phone.

"_You got him to agree with just one meeting_?" Sasori's voice came from the cell phone. Sakura wasn't sure she liked his tone; he sounded like he hadn't been expecting her to be able to pull it off at all.

"**Yes**, actually," she said slightly arrogantly. "I had him _begging_ to come back to Akatsuki Studios." She shrugged. Might as well play up the part. "He was all _over_ me. 'Sakura, Sakura, please, I'll do **anything**, so please let me come back.' It was so tragic, you know, so I just, you see, I had to let him. I mean, just seeing a full-grown man looking so desperate just because of my amazing skills with words." To top it all off, she gave a dramatic sigh as a conclusion.

She could practically _feel_ Sasori's skeptical facial expression. "_I'm sure_," he said in a tone that a part of Sakura's mind dared to call sarcastic. "_So he'll be starting tomorrow, then_?"

"Why, of course," Sakura said with ease, taking a right. "Such an eager little bee. I can't help but think that without me, he wouldn't have come back. I mean, I had to use extreme methods of persuasion."

"_Oh really_?" She could swear he was toying with her, amused by her overly-exaggerated tale.

"That's right," Sakura continued. She slowly eased down on the brake pedal as she neared a red light. "I had to think about the perfect words to use in my head, but once I got going, oh it was easy pickings from there."

"_I bet it was_," Sasori said, rolling his eyes with amusement. He couldn't have picked a better receptionist, that much was obvious. "_All right, I'll see you tomorrow then._"

"Don't forget, tomorrow's Tuesday," Sakura reminded in a cheerful tone. "You've got a meeting with Mr. Nara, and I've got class until eleven."

"_I remember; see you then_."

"Sure thing." Sakura closed her cell phone and set it in the drink holder between the two front seats. It was a handy place to put her phone, easy access and it wouldn't go flying all over the place if she made a quick turn. She sighed slightly, realizing she couldn't go home just yet. She promised to visit Sasuke as soon as she finished with her overtime assignment. Hiding her frown, she pulled into a driveway and backed up to turn around, heading towards Sasuke's place.


	5. Some Things Never Change

_**Upside-Down**_

_TK Grimm_

* * *

**Chapter Five:**

**Some Things Never Change**

* * *

"_Oh, please," Sakura said, waving her hand in dismissal. "I have yet to hear a pickup line that I haven't been able to turn down with ease."_

"_W-we'll just see what he s-says when he gets here," Hinata said quietly, averting her gaze to the floor._

_Ino stared at Sakura in shock. "Sakura, this is __**high school**__! Don't deny him! These are supposed to be some of the best years of your life! Live a little – date!"_

"_I will," Sakura assured. "As soon as I find someone who can impress me with more than some clever line." The boy who had been staring at the three girls for quite some time now finally got the courage to walk up to them. It didn't surprise Sakura that boys were so nervous around them. She and Ino were two of the most popular girls in school, after all._

_To her surprise, this one seemed a confident now, perhaps a little __**too**__ confident. "Sakura Haruno," he began with ease. "You look amazing as usual." Holding out his hand with what appeared to be an attempt at a charming smile, he asked, "Why don't you come with me, and I'll show you some of the better places at this school."_

_Before Sakura could come up with a witty comeback, another guy from behind the first answered for her. "Please, I've heard better pickup lines than that from Sasori's grandmother… yeah." It had to be Deidara._

"_Watch it," came the unmistakable sound of Sasori's voice, though rather than sounding offended, it was more so nonchalant._

_Sakura raised her eyebrows in amusement, looking at the boy directly in front of her. "You heard them. Couldn't have said it better myself." With a scowl, he took off, not wanting to challenge the two seniors – especially with __**their **__reputations._

_Deidara and Sasori casually sat on either side of Sakura as if it were an every day deal during lunch time. Ino and Hinata exchanged shocked glances, not sure what to do. Deciding it was better to stay silent so as not to offend either one of them (they didn't like the idea of being tossed in a garbage can or put in a locker), they went with that option and shut their mouths._

"_The nerve of these sophomores, yeah?" Deidara sighed, lazily leaning back against the wall. "Just because they're not freshmen, they think they can run the school."_

"_**Obviously**__," Sakura replied, keeping her voice neutral. She knew how to win with Deidara. She had to act like she wasn't intimidated by his presence. He __**did**__ say he liked her attitude, after all. And if worse came to worse, Sasori would come to her rescue, since he was by far the mature one._

"_Pickup lines these days," he continued, glancing at Sakura out of the corner of his blue eye._

_Sakura looked at him with a raised pink eyebrow and a grin, "And you could do better?"_

"_Hell of a lot better than that, yeah," Deidara scoffed, slightly offended that Sakura thought little of him._

"_Okay, try me," Sakura grinned._

_Deidara smirked. He looked at her up and down, as if calculating something in his head. "Hang on a sec," he said, getting up and walking away. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and glanced at Sasori. He shook his head, silently telling her to ignore Deidara. Curious, she turned again to see Deidara walking back up to her. He stood in front of her, lowering his head to meet her gaze. "How much does a penguin weigh?"_

_Sakura gave him a quizzical look, but humored him and played along. "I don't know; how much?"_

"_Enough to break the ice," he answered with a perfect, charming smile. "I'm Deidara."_

_Ino and Hinata's jaws dropped, but Sakura knew her face was bright crimson. Immediately turning away and coughing she said, "Okay, that was __**pretty**__ good…"_

_Deidara grinned and sat down next to her again. "Thanks. I thought so, too… yeah."_

* * *

Sakura slowly rose up in her bed and stretched. Frowning slightly, she looked at the clock before pushing the switch on the side to cancel the alarm. It would have gone off in another two minutes, anyway. She stepped out of bed and began fishing through her closet, searching for a decent outfit to wear that day. "I haven't thought about that in a while," she mused quietly to herself, thinking about her dream. "Though I must admit, that was a rather crafty pickup line."

It was Tuesday morning, and like all other Tuesdays, Sakura had class. Though she made it through the three hour lesson fairly painlessly, she was given quite a lot of homework. Unfortunately, it wasn't the blow-off-this-is-easy kind, it was the make-my-brain-hurt-just-by-looking-at-it kind. Heading to work, Sakura made sure she didn't look at the large stack of papers carefully secured in her backseat. It was frightening enough just to think about it.

She pulled into the parking lot of Akatsuki Studios and drove up towards the front door where her usual spot was. Her eye visibly twitched in annoyance when she saw that Deidara had, for the second time, taken her spot. Sakura let it slide the first time, but he was going too far. It didn't help that she had to dream about him _again_ the night before. Parking on the other side of Sasori's Camaro, she stepped out of the car and headed towards the front door.

_Okay,_ she thought, _don't nag about the parking spot. He doesn't know it's __**your**__ spot, so just… mention it. Besides… at least he's here_. With these comforting thoughts, she walked through the front door. As if it couldn't get worse from Deidara stealing her **favorite** parking place, he had to be sitting in **her** chair by **her** computer… playing Tetris with a Popsicle in his mouth. That bastard.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye having heard the bells on the doorway chime as she entered. "Yo," he said casually.

Sakura clenched her fists. _Mustn't lash out… must save job_… "Deidara… you parked in my spot."

"Huh?"

Sasori was talking to a client over by one of the paintings, so Sakura had to make sure to keep her voice light. "Your car," she said, pointing at the black Trans Am in the parking lot, parked neatly by the front door. "It's in my spot."

Deidara raised an eyebrow, "Well before _you_ started working here, cherry chick… that was **my** spot… yeah."

Oh no he didn't. "_Excuse_ me?"

"I was here _long_ before you. That," he pointed at his car, "is my spot."

_Don't yell… Sasori has a client… calm down…_ Sakura thought, using every ounce of willpower to keep a calm, impassive face. It was a given fact that a few signs of irritation were beginning to leak through, however. "Okay… the spot doesn't matter." _I get here before he does on Monday, Friday, and Saturday; I'll just park there __**first**_. "But are you supposed to be eating a drippy ice cream **thing** by the computer? What if you dropped it and it hit the keyboard or **worse** and it… I don't know, blew up or something!"

She wasn't sure, but Sakura had a feeling Deidara was finding the entire situation amusing whereas she was thoroughly annoyed. A slight grin crossed his lips, "Blow up?" He held the Popsicle directly over the keyboard. When Sakura's eyes widened with fear, his grin increased. "Oh… so you don't want me to do… this, yeah?" He lowered his hand, moving the sweet treat dangerously close to the keys.

"D-Deidara, I really don't think you should do that," Sakura panicked. Deidara gave her an evil smile and moved it to where it was barely a centimeter away. Sakura's look of panic increased ten fold and she covered her eyes, "If you make the keyboard explode you're buying us a new one!" It was quiet for a while. When Sakura peeked between her fingers, she saw that Deidara had resumed his game of Tetris, the Popsicle still in his mouth.

The bells on the front door chimed again, signaling the client had finally left. On cue, Sasori walked over to the front desk, glancing at the game Deidara was playing before turning his attention to Sakura. "Good day at school, Sakura?" he asked politely.

Accepting the temporary distraction from her Deidara troubles, she gave him a weak smile. "It was easy enough while in class, but they gave me more homework in one day than I would have normally received from a full week as a senior in high school."

"Today's a slow day," Sasori mentioned. "If you finish your work, you can start on that so you don't have to worry about it once you get home."

"Thanks, Sasori," Sakura said, smiling sheepishly. That's when something in her head clicked. "Oh yeah, Sasori, tell Deidara that he parked in my spot!" Replaying that sentence in her head, she realized she sounded like a five-year-old.

"It was **my** spot **first**!" Deidara retorted, pausing his game once again to glare at her warningly. Okay, scratch the five-year-old thoughts. He sounded just as bad.

Sasori sighed, leaning on the white desk as he looked at Sakura and then Deidara. "Does it really matter? It's a parking spot."

"YES!" they both insisted in unison.

Sasori rolled his eyes in slight annoyance. "Sakura, you're here first three out of six days. Deidara, the same goes to you. You can take your parking place on the days that you get here first, so for God's sake, shut up."

Deidara huffed in annoyance, turning back to Tetris once again. Sakura seemed satisfied with this and walked to the coat rack, hanging up her white trench coat. When she approached the desk again, another thought came into her mind. "Oh yeah, Deidara, I had another dream about you last night."

Awkward.

As soon as the words were out, Sakura immediately regretted it. The little blocks in the Tetris game reached the top, causing 'Game Over' to fill the screen. Sasori gave Sakura a quizzical look – it appeared as if he were also holding back an amused grin. Deidara cursed at the computer screen and then turned his attention to Sakura. "You _what_?"

"Uh…" _Think, Sakura, think_! "I had another bee in my view last night. They're after my flowers again, I bet."

"Yeah… that's what I thought you said…" Deidara said slowly.

"Quite an… annoyance, I presume," Sasori mentioned quietly, his expression as calm and angelic as ever.

"Err, yeah," Sakura nodded, feeling her face heat up slightly. _I really need to learn how to think before I speak_… she thought. When she thought it couldn't get worse, it did by the time her lunch break arrived. Sasori was going through some files to prepare for his next meeting at 1:00, Sakura was working on her homework while munching on Chex Mix, and Deidara was hovering over her shoulder, asking random questions about stuff in her homework.

"Then… what's that?" he asked.

Sakura sighed, "You don't know what ultrasound is?"

"If I _knew_ would I have asked, yeah?" Deidara sneered.

"It's sort of like a moving x-ray, but it shows more than bones," Sakura explained, showing him a picture on a diagram for her homework. "It's mainly used to show mothers an image of their baby while still in the womb."

"That's… gross."

"You self-centered, narrow-minded idiot!" Sakura scolded. "It's beautiful!" Her mind vaguely registered Sasori's snort of amusement as he continued searching through the file cabinet to her right. "If you had a child, wouldn't you want to see him or her before they're born?"

Deidara looked at Sakura as if she had sprouted cat ears and a tail. "Are you serious? Who would want to see that?"

"Many soon-to-be parents see ultrasound techs actually," Sasori mused, keeping his gaze on the file folder he took from the cabinet. "Of course, I'm sure that doesn't include… what was it, _self-centered, narrow-minded idiots_."

"Hey, whose side are you on, yeah?" Deidara scowled.

"At least someone appreciates my creativity," Sakura said, going back to her homework. As soon as she had moved onto another question, Deidara had to find something _else_ he didn't know about.

"Epih…dur…all…"

"Epidural," Sakura sighed, rubbing the sides of her head stressfully. "It's an extremely powerful analgesic procedure."

"Which involves…?"

Sakura set her pencil down and gave him her attention. "It's where the nurse takes a needle about this long," she spread her fingers a bit too far for Deidara to be comfortable, "and put it in your lower back straight in. The needle itself is hollow. Then they stick a little tube down there through to your spine and from there, the analgesic drips down and goes through the tube, completely numbing your lower body. It's primarily used with pregnancy."

"Sorry I asked… yeah…" Deidara shuddered, getting mental images.

"Are you in a childbirth unit, Sakura?" Sasori asked.

"That's right," Sakura replied. "We're studying all the terms and procedures that go along with it. It's really complicated. But I suppose it's not as bad as basic injections. That section was torture."

The expression on Deidara's face resembled a little kid watching a horror movie. "What… what did you have to do?"

"Oh a number of things," Sakura said, keeping her face and tone nonchalant. On the inside, she was grinning like a madwoman at Deidara's reaction. "We all have a lab partner, and when it came time to practice, we had to do things like… draw blood from our partner."

"With a **needle**?"

"No, with a toothpick," she answered sarcastically. "Of course with a needle! That's the only way you learn. If you had to get a shot, you wouldn't want a nurse who had never done that before do it to _you_!" Deidara's face remained impassive for about two seconds until he burst out laughing. This irritated Sakura. "What exactly is so funny?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw Sasori rest his forehead on his hand with his eyes closed as he sighed. When Deidara got his laughter under control for the most part, he said, "You wouldn't want a nurse who had never done that before to do it to you, yeah?" He had this stupid grin on his face as if he had just told the greatest joke ever.

Sakura gave him a confused look, but a few seconds later, she got it. "You pervert!" she yelled, accidentally breaking her pencil in half just by squeezing it.

"Hey, that's not fair, yeah," Deidara said with a mock pout on his face. "You need to work on your wording of things, chick. Speaking of which, what did you dream about last night?" Sakura's eyes widened and a blush came over her once again. Trying her hardest to glare at the blonde, all she managed was a stupid look while _he_ kept grinning.

"Nothing," Sakura replied, turning away so she could go back to her homework and they couldn't see her pink-tinged cheeks. "Nothing. I don't remember."

Deidara put his elbow on the desk, resting his chin on his hand as he gave her a playful look. "Really? Lets see… I think you mentioned earlier that you dreamt about _me_."

"Really?" Sakura said lightly, scolding herself for replying too quickly. "I-I don't remember. What a shame." To Sakura's rescue, the door opened with a chime of the bells as a man entered. "Hello sir, welcome to Akatsuki Studios. How may I assist you?"

"Ah, I have a meeting," he began.

"Oh, Mr. Nara, right?" Sakura asked politely. She turned to Sasori. "Sir, your 1:00."

"Thanks, Sakura," Sasori said before turning to his client. "Follow me."

When the two were down one of the studio hallways examining one of the art pieces, Deidara returned his attention to Sakura, the playful look turning a bit more suggestive. Sakura kept her green eyes on her homework, pretending to be reading a problem, though in reality, she was just staring at it. When she couldn't take it anymore, she glanced at him briefly. "Deidara."

"Yeah?"

"What."

He tilted his head to the side, "What-what?"

"What do you want?" she asked exasperatedly, giving him her full attention.

"What did you dream about?" he grinned.

"High school," Sakura replied, looking back at her homework.

"Oh?"

"Yes."

"Go on…"

"That's it."

"No it's not," Deidara insisted. "If it was, you wouldn't be putting up such a fight to keep it to yourself."

Sakura gave him an annoyed glare. "I have to do my homework."

"You can do it later, yeah," Deidara said. "Procrastinate. It's fun."

"That's a horrible habit."

"In your eyes, everything I **do** is a horrible habit," Deidara pointed out with a frown, remembering her nagging about him smoking the day before.

Seeing his sudden change in mood, Sakura gave him a slight pout. "That's not true…"

"Yeah it is."

"No it's not."

"Sakura." The tone was a 'drop it' tone.

"Deidara." Before he could speak again, she continued. "Your artwork isn't a bad habit. It's a very good one. And I plan on stealing the hood of your car for that phoenix."

His eyes widened in horror, "Don't touch my car! She's my pride and joy, you evil little-"

"Your car's a 'she'?" Sakura asked with an evil smile of her own. Payback.

"Whatever, you're not getting that hood," Deidara scoffed, folding his arms across his chest and looking out the window. "It took me a week to get it perfect."

Sakura followed his gaze to the Trans Am sitting outside – in **her** parking place – and smiled slightly. "It looks really nice. Maybe you can paint something on mine."

"Nothing goes with purple," he lied. He was still a bit bothered by the habits talk.

Sakura inwardly sighed and finally took a break from her homework. "Do you remember that day in the lunch room, when you and Sasori sat with my friends and I, and that one kid tried to use a ridiculous pickup line on me? And then you used-"

"The penguin one," Deidara finished, feeling the corners of his mouth tug up a little despite his previous brooding expression. He glanced at her, blue eyes gleaming brightly as a smirk crossed his lips. "You were all over me after that line."

"I was _not_," Sakura retorted, putting her hands face down on the desk for emphasis.

"Oh, right, the blush on your cheeks to this day cooperates with that statement _perfectly_, yeah," he grinned.

Sakura picked up her broken pencil and continued working, muttering something about 'self-centered, narrow-minded idiot.' "Well, that's what I dreamt about last night," she said before writing down an answer to one of the questions.

"Dreaming about that line and everything," Deidara sighed dramatically, leaning back in his chair. He folded his arms behind his head and stretched out his legs, crossing his feet. "Yep, all over me."

"_Someone's_ overconfident," Sakura scoffed, still refusing to look at him.

"Naturally," Deidara replied with ease. There was a pause. "Hey Sakura?"

"What is it **now**?" she asked, setting down her pencil _once again_ as she turned to look at him.

Deidara pointed at a word in her paper with a truly puzzled expression. "What's a… mammogram?"


	6. Awkward Moments

_**Upside-Down**_

_TK Grimm_

* * *

**Chapter Six:**

**Awkward Moments**

* * *

Saturday, oh wonderful, beautiful Saturday. Saturday was the day that work went by fast and afterwards, Sakura got to go home and relax. Saturday night, she could stay up late and not worry about work and school the next day. Sunday morning, she could sleep in as late as she wanted without a care in the world. It was March 8th, and that meant – though she refused to admit she was counting down – there were 20 more days until her 20th birthday.

Smiling at the thought, Sakura continued inputting in the meeting times for the following week on the computer. She was having such a good day so far, she didn't notice the door open until Deidara put his hands on the front desk, glaring at her. "I told you that was _my _spot," he said menacingly, pointing at her Tommy Kaira outside the door in the front parking place. "I let it slide yesterday, but today you're moving, yeah!"

Nothing was going to get in her way on **Saturday**, not even a self-centered, narrow-minded idiot named Deidara. She gave him a sweet smile and said, "Today is Saturday, Deidara. I get the spot on Saturdays. But as soon as Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday get here, you can park there all day long," she finished, pinching his cheeks as if he were a little kid. To top it all off, she took the cigarette from his mouth and extinguished it by pressing the end down on papers she was about to throw away. Then she tossed it and the pile of papers in the trash can. "No smoking in the studio, you know that," she added innocently.

"I wasn't gonna…" he said in a slightly pouting tone.

"Oh, I'm sure."

"All right," Deidara said, running his hand through his bands. A smirk crossed his features. "You get it today… but I'll be here _way_ before you on Monday."

"Keep telling yourself that." Sakura kept the fake smile up, but on the inside, she wondered if she just took on a bit more than she could handle. No! It's Saturday! Nothing can go wrong on a Saturday; she **refused** to let anything go wrong on a Saturday! Besides, there was no way Deidara would wake up as early as she did, or earlier, just to get the parking spot. With this resolve, she gave him a final smile and resumed typing on the computer.

Sasori came downstairs at that time and approached the front desk, handing Sakura another folder. "I just finished a new painting," he said. "Here's the data for it, can you put it on the computer and add the photograph on the website?"

"Sure thing," Sakura replied. "I'll do that as soon as I've finished with your meetings next week."

"Thanks, Sakura."

"Not a problem." Sakura's phone rang, causing the song 'Temperature' to sound through the room. Ignoring the raised eyebrow looks she got from both men, Sakura took her phone from her pocket. Giving Sasori an apologetic smile, she said, "Sorry, is it okay if I take this? It's Sasuke."

"Its fine," Sasori replied. He didn't care if Sakura used her phone; she did a good job with her work and earned these privileges. As she answered it, Sasori went through the folder, making sure everything was there.

For some reason, Deidara had a bit of a scowl on his face as Sakura answered the phone. "Hey, honey," she said. "I'm at work now, is it okay if I call you later?" Deidara was holding onto his car keys so tightly, his knuckles were white. Only Sasori seemed to notice when he looked at him from the corner of his eyes. "Oh, that's not a problem. I'll see you after work, then, same place as last week." Deidara's left eye twitched once in what Sasori dared to call frustration. "Love you, too."

That was it. "I'm gonna take my lunch break early, yeah…" Deidara said before walking out the door. Sasori's perceptive amber eyes watched him as he got in his car and drove off, then drifted back to Sakura. _Interesting_.

Sakura hung up her phone and set it back in her purse. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, looking around once. "Where did Deidara go?"

"Lunch," Sasori replied without missing a beat.

"It's 10:45," Sakura pointed out, her look of confusion increasing.

Sasori smiled ever so slightly, but shrugged. "I'll be upstairs."

"Okay," Sakura said, turning back to the computer. "Don't work too hard."

"Yeah, okay."

* * *

After work, Sakura got in her car and checked the time. 4:02; it was time to meet Sasuke at the restaurant they had gone to the Saturday before. As soon as she drove into the parking lot, she quickly spotted Sasuke's Lamborghini – it sort of stood out. Taking the available spot to its left, she got out of her car and walked up to his. He was on his cell phone again, but he rolled down his window, smiled at her, and gave her the one-minute sign.

Sakura smiled and nodded, waiting for him to finish his call. She always told Sasori not to work too hard, but she never realized she had never said that to Sasuke. Now that she thought about it, she felt a little guilty. Though perhaps, even if she had said that, Sasuke most likely wouldn't have listened.

By the time Sakura got home, it was 5:47. As soon as she hung up her coat, her cell phone rang. It was the default ringer, so it was obviously someone she hadn't assigned a personal ring tone as of that moment. She looked at the screen. _Deidara… I wonder what he wants_. "Hello?"

"_Hey, chick. Didn't catch you at a bad time, did I?_"

"No, I just got home," Sakura replied slightly awkwardly as she took her shoes off. "What's up?"

"_Are you busy tomorrow_?"

Sakura blinked. _Is he asking me on a… No, he knows I'm dating Sasuke_. "No, I'm free tomorrow."

There was a pause; for whatever reason, Deidara seemed hesitant to ask. "_I was just thinking we could… I don't know, get a cup of coffee or something, yeah?_"

"Sure," Sakura said smiling. "Do you want to meet in the morning?"

"_Anytime is fine_."

"Okay, how about Panera's at 10?"

"_Sounds great_."

"Yeah, see you then," Sakura finished.

"_Hey, Sakura…?_"

"Yeah?"

He paused again. Sakura frowned slightly, wondering what happened to make it so awkward for Deidara to talk to her. "_Nothing… never mind._"

"Hey, don't be like that," Sakura said in a teasing tone of voice. She would have added a playful poke to the forehead if they weren't talking over the phone. "Come on… tell meeee…"

"_Sakura…_"

"Please?"

Though she didn't know it, Deidara was thankful at the time that he didn't have to see the puppy-dog face on Sakura as well. "_Don't worry about it. I'll see you tomorrow_."

"Oh, okay," Sakura replied. "Bye bye."

"_Later_."

Sakura smiled as she set her phone down on the kitchen counter. Shower time; she walked into the bathroom and looked at the mirror, surprised. _Am I… am I blushing_?

* * *

Sakura stepped out of her car and locked it with the remote control on her key. Carelessly dropping it in her purse, she walked into the coffeehouse with a confident smile. It would be nice to see Deidara; she was sure they had a lot to catch up on that they'd missed before. As soon as she walked through the door, she caught sight of him sitting at a booth, looking out the window as he extinguished a cigarette.

He turned his head slightly and saw her walk in, waving at her once. Sakura smiled brightly and waved back, but as soon as she did, her purse went flying. Her eyes widened in horror as it came crashing to the ground, the contents spilling out onto the floor. She felt several pairs of eyes on her but refused to look up as she crouched down, trying to gather everything. Sakura thought that spilling her purse at work was embarrassing – she never bothered to imagine spilling it at a coffeehouse.

"Wow," she heard Deidara say. He knelt down in front of her and helped her with a few things. Sakura refused to look at him because she knew he was trying not to laugh (and failing miserably). "You're pretty klutzy, you know that?"

Sakura's reply was a small whimper of embarrassment. She finally gathered everything and zipped the purse back up. Deidara tilted his head slightly, obviously oblivious as to why it was such a big deal. "It's not _that_ bad… yeah."

"Yes it is," Sakura mumbled as she followed him to their booth. She absolutely **refused** to look at any of the other customers. _This is the last time I come in __**this**__ coffeehouse_, she thought miserably.

Deidara sat down across from her and gave her an amused smile. "Could have been worse."

"How…" she groaned, sinking into her seat.

"You could have pushed the panic button on your car keys… yeah."

She sat back up. That was true. That button would have made the car's horn go non-stop and the lights blink on and off until she canceled it. "Good point," Sakura said, resting her head on her hand with her elbow on the table. "This is so embarrassing…"

Deidara shrugged and nodded once. It probably was. "But who cares?"

"I do," she retorted, looking at him as if he were crazy.

"Why?"

"Because people saw me!"

"So?"

"I don't want them to think I'm some sort of… I don't know, clumsy idiot."

Deidara sighed. "Are you ever going to see any of these people ever again?"

Sakura bit her lower lip, looking away. "No…"

"Then why does it matter?"

"It's embarrassing," Sakura said. "And hey! **You** saw me!"

"So? I'm not gonna hate you just because you dropped your purse, I thought it was hilarious… yeah."

"Oh, _thanks_," Sakura grimaced.

"You've done it before," Deidara pointed out.

Sakura shook her head, trying to distract herself from the _perfect_ start to her day. "So what did you want to see me for, anyway?" she asked pleasantly.

Deidara paused; he didn't think she'd ask that. "Err… I need a reason?"

"No," Sakura chuckled. "I guess I just thought you had something important you wanted to tell me."

"I could have called you for that," Deidara said, tilting his head to the side. The waitress passed by and took their orders – both of them stuck with a simple coffee. "When did you start working at Akatsuki?" Deidara asked, starting a conversation.

"About a year ago," Sakura said, stirring cream and sugar into her coffee. "Oh, you should have been there," she laughed. "My interview was humiliating – I was so surprised Sasori hired me."

"I'm not," Deidara told her. Sakura looked at him, confused, so he thought quickly. "You're good with people; that's an important skill for a receptionist. Plus, we were friends in high school."

"I only knew you guys for a year," Sakura insisted. "And we hung out in different crowds."

"We were still on good terms at least, yeah," Deidara said.

Sakura nodded, "That's true. So what happened after high school? Get yourself a girlfriend?"

"Not even," Deidara chuckled. "I partied too much, and these days I have other things I need to fix before I start dating again."

"Like what?" Sakura asked, tilting her head to the side.

Deidara gave her half a smile, "I've got to get my life in order. Sort of had a wakeup call a few days ago," he finished in a slightly quieter tone.

"What happened?" For some reason, she was hesitant to ask.

"Don't worry about it," Deidara replied, flashing her a cheeky grin. "So… have any more _dreams_ about me?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "No, and the first two were just coincidence."

"First two?" he inquired with a smirk. "You mean you plan on having _more_?"

"Deidara, you jerk! Get your head out of the gutter; I'm dating Sasuke!"

The quickest traces of a frown passed over Deidara's face in half a second, so much so that Sakura didn't notice. He plastered a cocky grin on his face and shrugged, "Oh yeah, choose spoiled little rich boy over amazing me."

Sakura smiled, giving him a playful punch in the shoulder, "You'd be even more amazing if you stopped smoking."

"Ouch," Deidara said, holding his hand over his heart in mock pain. "Low blow!"

Sakura giggled as she rolled her eyes. "How about… you'd be more amazing if you painted the hood of my car like you did yours?"

"I'm not gonna put a phoenix on your car," Deidara said as if it were obviously the wrong thing to do. "Those belong on Trans Ams, not little preppy girl cars."

"Okay… then what can go on my car?" Sakura asked, trying to ignore the 'preppy girl' comment.

"Nothing."

"What?"

"Nothing."

Sakura's eye twitched, "Why not?"

"I told you already," he retorted, folding his arms and looking out the window. "Nothing goes with purple."

* * *

Monday morning, Sakura made sure to get out of bed on time. She had her clothes set out the day before – a cute, sleeveless red mini dress with white trim – and prepared a quick bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. After munching it down with a glass of apple juice, she cleaned up the mess and headed to work. As soon as she pulled into the parking lot, she smirked triumphantly upon seeing her spot was free.

For lunch, she left work, heading to a sandwich place that was just down the street. It wasn't Sakura's job – nor was she asked to do so – to bring lunch to Deidara and Sasori, but they had been cooped up in the studio's art room all morning, so she felt bad. Her guilty conscience caused her to buy them sandwiches, too. _Sasori's paying me, so I'm not gonna let him die of starvation! And besides, Deidara did pay for my coffee yesterday. It's only fair_.

As soon as she got back to Akatsuki Studios, Sakura saw that no one had been covering the phone in her absence. Sasori and Deidara were still upstairs. She looked at the recording machine and sighed with relief that no one had called. After hanging up her coat, she walked upstairs and knocked on the door. A faint 'come in' was heard, so she hesitantly opened it.

The art room looked how she had pictured it; it was amusing to admit to herself that though she had worked there a year, she'd never been on the second floor. It had plain white walls and newspapers scattered throughout the floor. Blank or unfinished canvases were placed randomly and bits of clay and wood seemed to litter the floor.

"Sakura?"

Sasori's voice brought her out of her thoughts. Sakura looked at him with a smile and spoke in a teasing tone, "Guess what **I** brought…!"

Deidara looked up and saw the sandwich bag she was carrying. "Sakura, you're a saint, yeah!"

"Only on Mondays," she laughed, handing both of them a sandwich. "Sorry about coming up here, but I knew you guys wouldn't be leaving any time soon. Had to bring you _something_ or I'd feel guilty."

"How much do we owe you?" Sasori asked politely.

"Don't worry about it," Sakura insisted, looking around the room. "Wow, you guys sure keep busy, don't you?" The room was somewhat separated into two sections; one was Sasori's and the other was obviously Deidara's. They worked on separate projects, though it appeared they took on more than one at a time. An idea clicked in her mind, and she knelt down in front of Sasori, giving him a suggestive grin. Feeling her gaze on him, Sasori looked up from his painting of a mountainous scene and gave her a quizzical look. "Sasori, make Deidara paint my car like he did his."

"I said no!" Deidara said, taking a break from the clay bird sculpture he was working on. "_**He's**_ not gonna help you!"

"Why can't you paint her car?" Sasori asked curiously.

Deidara gave him a warning look, silently demanding 'who's side are you on, yeah?' before pouting slightly. "Because."

Sakura looked at him for a moment before deciding on a different route. She was still in a kneeling position, so she crawled her way over to Deidara's side of the room and sat down on her knees again. She put her hands on the floor in front of her, just close enough to push her breasts slightly forward for more of an appearance than her tight red dress already gave. To top it off, she gave him the sweetest baby look she could possibly muster. "Please?"

To her sheer delight, Deidara's eyes lingered for a moment on her chest before he forced himself to look away, breathing ever so slightly heavier than before. "No. …G…go away."

Sakura sighed, surprised and disappointed that it hadn't worked. Unbeknownst to her, if she had kept it up, it would have. Finally, she stood up, folded her arms across her chest, and stuck her nose in the air, looking at the ceiling. "I must have been mistaken," she said. This was her last option. "Here I thought you really _had_ painted the phoenix on your car – I can't really believe you if you don't give me a demonstration say… on my Tommy Kaira."

Deidara's blue eye twitched once in annoyance before he glared up at her. "You did **not** just say that."

Sakura grinned triumphantly, "Well? Prove me wrong."

For a moment, it looked as if he really was going to give in and paint her car. But then he clenched his fists and shut his eyes tightly, the scowl still on his face. After about ten seconds, he appeared calmer and was able to smirk at her again. "Don't believe me? Okay, I can live with that."

"W-what?" Sakura stuttered.

Deidara shrugged, "I don't need you to believe me – I know what I did." Grinning, he added, "Going to have to try a lot harder than that."

Sasori had been quietly watching the two of them for a while, using the side of his hand to hide the highly amused smile that was forming. Though Sakura didn't know it, she was winning. She just had to keep pushing. However, she seemed to lose her resolve after this, for she sighed and slumped down on her knees again. Soon, Sakura found her eyes wandering around the room again, looking at all the finished and unfinished works of art with awe. "Well, I've got to get back downstairs," she said at last, standing up again. "Got to cover the phone in case someone calls. If you need anything, let me know."

As soon as Sakura made it to the last step, she heard Sasori call her name. "Sakura, wait." She turned around and saw him close the door to the art room before walking down the stairs to meet her. "Did Deidara tell you what's going on? About any problems recently?"

"Um… I don't think so, why?" Sakura asked, confusion and concern evident in her voice and facial expression. "Wait, he did mention something yesterday, but he changed the subject right away. Is everything all right?"

Sasori paused, wondering how best to say what came next. "You're aware he listens to you, right, Sakura?"

"Err… I guess, but you know, I did sort of exaggerate that call last week-"

"No, not that," he said. "I know you exaggerated, but that's not the point. You did get him to come back after just talking to him once. Believe me when I say that Deidara is a stubborn brat."

"Oh, I believe you," Sakura sighed, thinking about it.

Sasori offered her an encouraging smile and put his hands on her shoulders. "He listens to you; not sure why," he lied, though kept his tone convincing, "but he does. Read this… you'll understand."

Sakura tilted her head to the side in confusion, but accepted the letter from Sasori regardless. It wasn't the one she was to deliver to Deidara. It appeared to be a business letter addressed to Deidara's apartment. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but opened it to read it. Just after reading the first few lines of the business letter, Sakura felt her heart tie in knots. "Oh my…"

The letter stated that if Deidara didn't come up with rent by March 15th, he was going to lose his apartment. He hadn't paid in two months, and this was his last chance.

"I'm trusting you with this," Sasori said all-knowingly. He could believe in Sakura; she was a miracle worker. Her bringing Deidara back to Akatsuki was proof enough as it was. "He won't let me help him, but he might if you talk to him."

Sakura nodded, smiling at him. "Thanks, Sasori. I'll try my best."

"I'll cover the phone," he said, walking to the front desk.

Sakura thanked him again and walked back upstairs. She opened the door to the art room and quietly closed it behind her. Normally, every time she saw Deidara she had funny flashbacks of high school or even excited feelings. It was so easy to smile when he was around. This time, she looked at him as he worked on the details of the clay bird's feathers and felt as if she had received news of a loved one passing away.

Feeling an uncontrollable urge to comfort him, she slowly walked towards him. Hearing her footsteps on the newspaper, he looked at her. That slightly arrogant, goofy grin of his was perfect – she would have bought it in a heartbeat, easily believing that nothing was wrong in his life. But she had just been proven otherwise. Kneeling down beside him, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

Deidara looked at her in confusion as she buried her face in his chest. "What happened?" he asked, trying not to get clay on her dress. "Did someone die?"

Sakura pulled away and gave him a sad smile as she slowly shook her head. "No… but…" Deidara's eyes traveled to the letter in her hand, and he saw the addresses. It became clear then; Sakura knew about his apartment.

"Yeah," Deidara said, switching his gaze to the window. "Life comes at you fast… yeah. I thought I had it all, and after I left Akatsuki, it just flew right by. I started smoking to get rid of the stress, started hanging out with some shitty new friends, and it just got worse from there."

"What are you going to do?" she asked, voice tinged with concern.

"I'm going to have to see if I can take out a loan."

"Don't," Sakura said suddenly, causing him to switch his gaze from the window back to her. "Those are all… those loan companies just want to make money. They'll charge you an awful interest rate, and then you'll be right back where you started."

He tilted his head to the side, looking at her with a sad smile. What was she doing, worrying about a piece of trash like him? "Don't worry about it, Sakura," Deidara said. "I'll figure something out, I always do."

"Sasori wants to help you, but you won't let him," Sakura pointed out. "And… and I'll help in any way I can."

"No way," Deidara said sternly. "I don't accept charity. Thanks," he added, "but no thanks." Damn men and their prides.

"It's not charity," Sakura informed. "It's me helping out a close friend. It's a shame we lost touch after you graduated, but I'm more than willing to make up for lost time." _You and me both_, Deidara thought with a frown, looking at her determined face. "I have an idea!" she said at once. "Give them the apartment – you can live with me!"

His expression turned from a frown, to surprise, to confusion, to a mixture of both. "Say what?"

"You've seen my place; it's more than enough for one person," Sakura said, feeling excited that she would be able to help.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Deidara said uncomfortably.

"Why not?" Sakura asked, confused. "I keep it clean! My cat won't bother you – she leaves people alone. I… I can do your laundry for you and stuff, I promise it won't be bad!"

"No, it's not that," Deidara interrupted. "It wouldn't be right, yeah? I can't even afford my place, there's no way-"

"We'll split rent! Besides, you're working here again, and soon, more of your artwork will sell, and you'll have more than enough! Think of it as temporary," Sakura added quickly. "I know the thought of living with me isn't the greatest of concepts, but as soon as you save up some cash, you can get your own place again!"

Deidara looked at her, frowning slightly. What was she thinking? Who wouldn't want to live with _her_? "It's still not right," he said. "It wouldn't be fair-"

"Oh will you stop that!" Sakura scolded. "Don't let your pride get in the way! I'm sure you'd much rather trust me than some _loan_ company!"

"Why exactly do **you** want to trust **me**?" Deidara inquired. "Before last week, we hadn't talked in three years."

"So?"

Deidara slapped his forehead in frustration. "Haven't you ever been warned about psychopaths and rapists, yeah?"

At this, Sakura laughed. Not a little giggle or something like that. She actually laughed, placing her hand on the floor for support. Deidara quirked an eyebrow at her, still frustrated. "_You_ a **rapist**?" she asked between bouts of laughter. "Oh, sorry – haha – that just gave me a mental image! Oh, that was funny," she sighed. "Wow. So when do you want to move in?"

"Sakura," Deidara said. "I'll ignore the rapist comment but I can't move in with you. I can't depend on others just for a place to live, that's not living at all… yeah."

"It's just temporary."

"That doesn't matter!" He searched his brain for another reason. "Besides… how's your boyfriend going to react." He was more than bitter about mentioning that one.

"Sasuke won't care," Sakura assured. "I'm a grown woman; I make my own choices. I don't need a man making them for me."

Deidara sighed, finally realizing he was fighting a losing battle. Like Sakura pointed out, it **was** only temporary. He would live there for a month, if that, and then move out and get his own place again. "Fine."

"Yay!" Sakura cheered, happy she won the argument. "It'll be so much fun, trust me!"

"Uh-huh…"

"We can wake up in the morning and have breakfast and drive to work in the same car sometimes!"

"M-hmmm…"

"We can even stay up late and watch movies! Oh, this'll be great!"

"…"


	7. For You

_**Upside-Down**_

_TK Grimm_

* * *

**Chapter Seven:**

**For You**

* * *

"What are you making **now**?"

"Will you stop complaining?" Sakura said, stopping what she was doing to put her hands on her hips. She waved her spatula at Deidara threateningly, "When a woman cooks for a man, he's supposed to appreciate it."

Deidara sighed, crossing his arms on the table and using them as a pillow for his head. "It was nice at first, but now you're just trying to make me fat, yeah." He was exaggerating; they had been living together for almost week now, and Sakura just liked to bake… a lot.

"Want me to stop and throw them away?"

"No!" he said instantly, jerking his head up and looking at her. He immediately looked away, "Err… that'd just be a waste. That's all."

Sakura rolled her eyes in amusement, going back to her cinnamon rolls. "Uh-huh. That's what I thought."

"Don't you have homework to do or something, yeah?"

"It's Saturday."

"So?"

Glancing back briefly, she winked at him. "I'm procrastinating. Just a little."

Deidara raised an eyebrow as he looked up at her. "What was that you said the other day? 'What an awful habit' yeah."

Sakura chuckled lightly and decided to ignore him for the time being. As soon as the first batch was cooling and the second was in the oven, she finally got to sit down at the table as well. "So, you've been looking at that text book for a while; learn anything?"

Deidara sighed and sat up straight, turning his attention back to Sakura's medical book that she used for college. Seeing a maze of big words, he shut his eyes tight and shoved it back towards her. Sakura giggled, pointing at one of the words. "Okay… what's a photometer?"

Instead of asking how he was supposed to know that, Deidara decided to use his sarcasm to answer. "I don't know, a photograph ranked from one to ten?"

"_No_… It measures the amount of light reflected off the reacted reagent pad and converts-"

"You lost me."

Sakura sighed exasperatedly, "You know, it's only difficult because you **make** it difficult." Looking at the page again, she found another word. "What's phagocytosis?" For some odd reason, Deidara burst out laughing, unable to answer her. This irritated Sakura. "**What**, do I _dare_ ask, is so funny?"

"Did you just say _fag_-ocytosis?"

"…"

Deidara got his laughter under control and waved his hand once in dismissal, "Okay, okay, just kidding, yeah. What does it mean, oh amazing doctor-in-training?"

Choosing to ignore the sarcasm, Sakura replied, "Engulfing of microorganisms and foreign particles by phagocytes – oh will you stop laughing!" Feeling the corners of her mouth tug upwards, she used every ounce of willpower to show him that she was mad, even if she was unable to do so successfully. "You self-centered-"

"Narrow-minded idiot, I know," Deidara rolled his eyes as he finished her insult. Sakura shook her head, smiling despite herself, and turned a few of the pages. Deidara's eyes widened when she started reading some article, but the words wasn't what he was focused on. "Are you reading a dirty book?" he demanded, shocked to see Sakura reading an article directly below a picture of a naked woman.

"**Excuse** me?" Sakura demanded. "These are medical diagrams! Of course they're going to show… full-body… well, _pictures_."

Deidara grinned, resting his chin on his hand with his elbow on the table. Sakura was sure she didn't like this expression. "Yeah, sure. You know, they have magazines with _much_ better pictures."

Sakura glared at him, "I would **never**! Oh, and I'm sure _you'd_ know all about **those**!"

Deidara shrugged, "I'm a guy." The smirk still on his face, he added, "You know, it's okay to be curious…"

"NO!"

Putting his hands up in defeat, he laughed, "Fine, fine, forget I said anything, yeah."

A soft _ding_ sound came from Sakura's pocket, so she took out her cell phone and looked at it. Ino had sent her a text message.

**come 2 elixur tomorrow 4 temari **

"Ino, Hinata and I are going to help Temari out tomorrow," Sakura said, replying to Ino with a simple 'ok.' "Will you be okay here by yourself?" she added with a grin.

Deidara changed his expression from irritation to mock concern quickly. "Oh, I don't know. I might not be able to find any food by myself, and what if I get lost on my way to the bathroom?"

Sakura shook her head in amusement. "Okay, just making sure. That reminds me, I keep forgetting to set you up with a personal ring tone on my phone. Look through and pick one!"

She handed him her cell phone, and Deidara started browsing through her song list. "You listen to shitty music… yeah."

"Hey!"

"The Beach Boys?" he asked skeptically.

"The Beach Boys is great music!" Sakura insisted. "Their songs are classic!"

"**No**… AC/DC's songs are classic. Hang on," Deidara said. He took his phone from his pocket and went through a list of his songs before finding the one he wanted and sending it to Sakura's phone as a media message. Then he set his phone down and set the song he had sent to her phone as his personal ring tone. "Much better. Now your phone isn't completely preppy… yeah."

"That better not be some head banging, big hair, 80s band," Sakura said as she hesitantly accepted the phone back from him.

Deidara smirked, "And if it is?"

With a sigh, she put it back in her pocket, "Then you'll scare the wits out of me every time you call."

"Perfect." He glanced at the clock somewhat uncomfortably and said, "I'm gonna step outside for a minute."

"Okay," Sakura replied, a frown coming over her face. She knew what that meant – it was cigarette time. He never smoked in her apartment, which she respected, but he did still smoke. _Give him some credit… he hasn't been smoking as much as before. Now it's only one or two a day_…

Sakura opened the oven door to check on the cinnamon rolls; they still needed a few more minutes. Taking off her white apron, she walked towards the back and stepped out onto the porch. Deidara was leaning on the wooden railing, looking at nothing in particular, just straight ahead. "Careful," he said when he heard the sliding door close. "Second hand smoke is murder."

"Oh?" Sakura asked with a slightly sad smile. Naturally, she already knew this, but it made her happy that he was being careful around her.

"Yeah," Deidara replied, still looking straight ahead. "Read it in your book."

_So that's what he was looking at before I started the second batch_, Sakura thought. She braced herself and stood next to him, mimicking his pose and leaning on the railing with her gaze straight ahead. "Does it help with stress?"

"It did at first," he said honestly. "Lately, it's causing more stress than it's relieving."

"Why is that?" Sakura asked softly, turning her head to look at him.

Deidara kept his face neutral, lacking basic expressions. He didn't want her to look too deeply into his mood. "You started nagging me about it, yeah," he finally said, momentarily glaring at her playfully.

Sakura rolled her eyes, turning her gaze back to the little garden in her tiny backyard. She wanted to buy a house one day so she could have a full-sized one, but that wasn't going to happen any time soon. "I only nag because I care," she pointed out, helping her case.

Deidara sighed, "I know, yeah. That's why it's stressful."

"What?"

"Not important." He looked at her briefly and then focused his eyes on something in a different direction. "I'll try to quit… eventually."

Sakura smiled, turning around so she could lean her back on the railing and look at him to her left. "How about now?"

"It's not that easy, yeah," Deidara said, finally looking at her. He grinned slightly, "Why do you care so much, anyway?"

Immediately, Sakura turned her head, furious with herself for blushing at his comment. "W-well, we're friends. Of course I care…"

Deidara glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She was facing the direction of the apartment with her right hand over her cheek. Her expression was slightly surprised, but what got his attention the most was the fact that she was indeed blushing. _Don't even think about it, yeah_, he thought. _She's taken_. He didn't say anything for a while, repeating this thought over and over in his mind.

Finally, he sighed in defeat and took the pack of cigarettes from his pocket. Sakura turned her head and looked at him, confused. He gave her a weak smile and tossed the pack into a trashcan. It shook slightly with impact but settled soon after. Sakura looked at him, completely shocked. "You mean it?"

"Yeah," he said, leaning on the railing again and looking straight ahead.

Sakura smiled at him proudly. "I'll help you in any way I can, I promise…" She took his hand for a moment, effectively surprising him. "I'm glad you decided to do this for yourself." Letting go of him, she walked to the sliding door and said, "I've got to check on those cinnamon rolls!"

Deidara watched the door close and then stared at his hand for a moment. _Damn it_, he thought. _I knew I shouldn't have moved in with her… _He sighed, returning his gaze straight ahead. "I didn't do it for me, yeah," he said quietly. "I did it for you."

A few minutes later, Sakura poked her head back outside, "Ron White is on Comedy Central; want to watch?" She paused before saying, "I'll let you eat a cinnamon roll on my couch and not nag about crummies…"

He chuckled, rolling his eyes in amusement as he followed her back in the house. "Okay, but no nagging period, you got that, chick?"

"Yeah, yeah," Sakura sighed. She was a neat freak and did her best to keep her house as clean as possible. One of the annoying things Deidara had to get used to when living with Sakura was that he couldn't eat or drink anything (except water) outside the kitchen. The first time he did, he never heard the end about 'crummies' and 'potential disasters they cause.'

They sat down on the couch watching random bits of comedy the man came out with. During commercial breaks, different conversations came up on several topics. One thing Sakura liked about being around Deidara was that there was always something to talk about. He was the exact opposite of boring, and that was a nice treat. Sure, Sasuke talked to her and put forth effort on conversations, but for the most part, it was quite one-sided. Every time she talked to Deidara, however, it was different. He listened to what she had to say, offered feedback and even asked questions to get a better understanding.

Sometimes, Sasuke was busy with other things and only gave her half of his attention. He would answer with a simple grunt or an 'uh-huh' because it was easy. What she hated the most was when Sasuke would agree with her, and when she would ask a question about it, she'd find out he hadn't been listening at all.

Deidara was never like that; he listened to everything she said, even if he didn't always reply. Sure, she sometimes asked a question about it to check if he was listening, but it turned out he always did. It was a nice change.

Sakura always felt as if she had to impress Sasuke whenever she was around him. Everything she did felt like it wasn't good enough for him, so she had to put forth the extra effort to do something that caught his attention. She knew he didn't mean it, but he had a bad habit of letting work come before _her_. It was understandable since he had such an important job, but she just wanted a little time and attention… was that too much to ask for?

Yet around Deidara, she found she could easily be herself, because he didn't _need_ to be impressed by her; he liked her how she was, flaws and all. And the more time she spent with him, the more she liked him for who he was, regardless of flaws. Sakura got to be herself around Deidara, and that meant a lot. What surprised her was how much he actually did for her. He made a lot of changes, things he probably thought she didn't notice, but she did. She wasn't sure why he did these things for her, but she respected it a lot.

Lately, she had noticed changes in herself that had slowly begun coming out. Sakura found that she was much happier than she used to be. She was never depressed or anything before; she was always pleasant and able to smile and laugh. But whenever she was around Deidara, Sakura found it exceedingly difficult **not** to smile. He brought out a side of her that was much more fun and easy-going. It wasn't always business-business-business anymore. Even Ino noticed the change.

Deidara and Sakura got their picture taken the day before. They went to a small café for lunch on Friday, and as they were leaving, Sakura saw a picture stand. Deidara was quite reluctant, but agreed to taking a few shots. They sat down in the booth, and the first picture, they both smiled. The second one they made a funny face where Sakura put bunny ears on Deidara's head, and Deidara squeezed Sakura's cheeks slightly so she had a fish face.

The last picture, they were closer with one arm wrapped around the other. Both of them had a smile on their face, and their heads were leaning against the other. Sakura liked that one the best. She put it in a picture frame and put it on her end table beside her bed. The funny face one was framed and set on a shelf with a bunch of other pictures Sakura had. Deidara kept the first one in his wallet.

The commercials came back, advertising an upcoming Mötley Crüe concert. Sakura realized she hadn't been watching the comedian before at all – she had been thinking about Sasuke and Deidara the whole time. Wait, why was she thinking about Deidara? Sure, he was a great friend and all, but she **was** dating Sasuke. She had to push these thoughts to the back of her mind and not think about him.

She turned her head and looked at Deidara. His blue eyes were glued to the television screen with his lips slightly parted. Sakura glanced at the TV and saw the Mötley Crüe concert still being advertised. Returning her green gaze to him, she wondered what about it had caught his interest. "You like them?" Sakura asked at last.

Deidara seemed to have snapped out of his trance. He glanced at her and then shifted slightly in his sitting position. "Sorta, yeah."

"Why don't you go?" Sakura giggled, poking him in the shoulder. He shrugged, but didn't answer. Sakura pondered this for a moment before biting her lip, wondering if it was because he couldn't afford tickets. She didn't ask, though, and instead, returned attention to the TV. "So when was your last concert?"

"I saw Godsmack when I was seventeen," he said, leaning back and becoming more relaxed. "You?"

Sakura gave him a sheepish smile, "I've only been to one, and that was for Sasuke's birthday. We went to Linkin Park. It was a bit… loud, though."

Deidara looked at her, grinning slightly. "You think **that's** loud?"

"Well, it was…"

He chuckled, "You haven't heard _anything_ in that case. Linkin Park is good, don't get me wrong. But they're a lullaby compared to some of the stuff I listen to. The Godsmack concert had cannons… yeah."

Sakura's eyes widened. "_Real_ cannons? Ones that… well, did they work?"

"Yep."

Sakura covered her ears at the thought, shaking her head a couple times. "Sounds like a headache…" Seeing that Ron White was back on TV, she relaxed and put her gaze back on the screen. Both Sakura and Deidara noticed that they were sitting exceptionally close, but they didn't say anything. It would have been awkward. Deidara kept telling himself that Sakura was taken, and Sakura continually repeated that she loved Sasuke.

* * *

Sunday morning, Sakura woke up rather comfortably. She didn't bother to roll over and glance at her clock and instead decided to snuggle up and get a few extra minutes of sleep. However, these pleasant thoughts vanished when she felt her 'pillow' move. She raised her head slightly and saw that she and Deidara had fallen asleep on the couch the night before. Her 'blanket' turned out to be his black trench coat – the one with the red cloud design that Sasori had one of as well.

Deidara was still asleep with his head resting on the arm rest of the leather couch, turned to the side slightly. His long blonde hair was in slight disarray, and both his arms were around Sakura. She smiled, resting her head on his chest as she had done before and started playing with his hair. She twirled the straight blonde locks around her fingers a few times, smiling absent-mindedly.

When Sakura returned her gaze to his face, she saw that he was waking up slowly. He squinted his eyes, keeping them shut tight because of the bright sun that had done it's job of waking Sakura up minutes before. She giggled, brushing a few of his bangs out of his eyes. "Morning."

Deidara groaned and covered his face with his arms an a futile attempt to block out sunlight so he could sleep longer. "What time is it," he asked, sleep showing through his voice.

Sakura turned her head and squinted her eyes in the light to see the clock just above the television set. "Almost ten." She looked at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. His eyes were still covered, so she could do whatever she wanted. She poked the sides of his cheeks once. Then she touched the tip of his nose with her index finger.

"Hey…" he said lazily. "It's mean to mess with sleeping people, yeah…"

"You're not sleeping…" Sakura sang happily.

Deidara moved his arms again so they rested on Sakura's back like before. He raised an eyebrow and said, "I **know**. I was _trying_."

"Nooooo," Sakura teased. "Come on, get up, let's get breakfast!"

"I would if I could," he replied, grinning slyly at her. "But you're on top of me… yeah."

Sakura poked him in the forehead before sliding off the couch and standing up. She stretched her arms out and walked into the kitchen. "What sounds good?" she asked, her voice loud enough for him to hear in the living room.

"I don't know; surprise me." Deidara sat up straight on the couch, looking at his coat. _Damn_, he thought as he reached his hand into the pocket. He remembered he had thrown away his cigarettes the night before. That's right… he quit. He sighed, walking to the kitchen, silently wondering how long he'd last.

After breakfast, Sakura got the first shower. She decided to be nice and leave Deidara hot water, though. She was in the middle of pulling her hair up into a spiky bun when he came out of the bathroom. Sakura felt her face heat up as she shamelessly stared at him. Just because she was dating Sasuke didn't mean she shouldn't be allowed to check other guys out. Especially if they happened to be extremely fit, _extremely_ sexy artists.

Deidara finally caught her looking and smirked. "Careful, yeah. Your face will freeze if you keep it like that for too long."

Sakura jumped, finally realizing what she had been doing and mentally slapped herself. She immediately turned around and restarted her hair style. Hearing Deidara's footsteps disappear down the hall, she let out a breath she wasn't aware she had been holding. _At least he had a towel on… Though I must admit I wouldn't mind seei-AH! __**No**__! Bad Sakura!_

By the time she finally completed her hair style – with a touch of hair spray to keep it in place – Deidara was sitting at the table reading a magazine. Sakura raised her eyebrows and walked over, curious. "What are you reading?"

"Rolling Stones," he said monotonously, turning the page.

Sakura bit her lip as she looked at the towel around his shoulders. He had pants on… but still no shirt. His hair was still damp, but it was drying slowly. She swallowed hard as her eyes wandered lower and lower. _Sakura, stop it!_ she scolded. _Quit ogling him like a horny little schoolgirl!_

"Are you listening, yeah?"

Sakura shook her head once. "Sorry about that… spaced out. What did you say?"

Deidara raised an eyebrow but didn't ask what was so distracting to make her space out. "I said, when are you going to help Temari?"

Sakura glanced at the clock. "Let's see… it's 11:30 now. I'll probably leave in a half hour. Why?"

"Just wondering."

"So…" Sakura began slowly, wondering how best to ask the next question.

Deidara set his magazine down and turned his head slightly to look at her. "So…" he echoed, waiting for her to continue.

"Feel free to say no to this," Sakura said sheepishly, her fingers fidgeting behind her back nervously. "Can I play with your hair?"

If he were drinking something, he would have spit it out right there. "You want to **what**?"

Sakura knew she was blushing, but tried to play it off and stay calm. "Please? It'll be fun! My hair's too short! Come on… I'll just brush it and then put it in the ponytail like you usually have it… Please?" Her hands were together in a praying motion, and she wore the cutest puppy dog face.

Deidara stared at her for a long time and then finally sighed in defeat. "Nothing better to do, yeah…"

"Yay!"

Deidara sat on the floor in front of the television set with his legs crossed. Sakura was behind him, casually and gently brushing through his hair as he looked through the channels to find something to watch. Sakura looked at the screen and saw Loony Tunes. "Oh! Wanna watch that?"

"Cartoons?" Deidara asked, glancing back at her.

"Yeah!" He shrugged and set down the remove, leaving it on Elmer Fudd hunting Bugs Bunny. There was a pause as Sakura stopped brushing for a moment. "Hey Deidara?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh… if I braid your hair, will you-"

"Don't even think about it."

Sakura tried her hardest to suppress a giggle, only to end up failing. "Okay, okay." Just as Deidara was beginning to find the Loony Tunes somewhat amusing, Sakura spoke again. "Deidara?"

His right index finger tapped on the floor impatiently a few times as he asked, "What now?"

"I was just wondering," Sakura began slowly as she gently brushed his hair back to get the top part in a ponytail. "Do you want to come with me when I got to the Elixur to help Temari?" She finally got it and held his hair carefully in her hand as she started tying the red ponytail around to secure it in place.

"Why do you want me to come, yeah?" he asked, his voice slightly suspicious.

"It's just gonna be a bunch of us girls from high school," Sakura said, knowing why he didn't want to go. "Shikamaru will probably be there, too. He and Temari are engaged. I just thought it would be fun to catch up." She switched positions so she was sitting in front of him, effectively blocking the TV. "Please?" she asked sweetly.

Deidara sighed, looking away. "Fine."

Sakura was getting used to him spoiling her like that; she could get almost anything that way. She grinned, "Thanks! Oh, and… what do you say about painting my car?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

Sakura sighed in defeat. "Okay. Well, let's get going. Put a shirt on; you're distracting." Her eyes widened momentarily, "I-I mean, wouldn't want any of my friends to, uh, err… well, it's just.."

Deidara smirked, only half-listening to her as she rambled and blushed. Sakura was so easily embarrassed, but when she said things like that, implying she was interested in him, it made him get this stupid grin on his face that lasted several minutes.

"I mean, well you are very attractive, don't get me wrong," she continued, desperately trying to not make eye-contact. "B-b-but I know and, er, you know, yeah, that friends can just… well sometimes look, n-not that I was looking! I just happened to-" and so on. God, she was entertaining at times. Yet at the same time, with Sakura saying all those things, Deidara _really_ wanted her. She wanted him, too – he just knew it. She _had_ to.

_Don't do it_, the traitorous voice in his head commanded. _She's with that Uchiha brat. Off-limits_. Deidara tried to block out the voice, but it kept coming back. Yet when Sakura's eyes landed on him once again, the same way they had after his shower earlier, he lost it.

Deidara put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her fully onto the floor. He was on his side, but his left hand still gripped her shoulder, his right holding him up, and his leg effectively placed between both of hers. Sakura looked at him in surprise, still blushing. "D-Deidara…?"

His left hand moved up to her neck and through her hair. Sakura saying his name was enough to bring up a dozen urges and wants that he knew he _had_ to put away. Deidara knew that if he acted on what he was feeling right then, he'd never see her again.

Sakura giggled slightly, turning her head and looking away. "Oh, sorry. I was rambling."

Deidara inwardly sighed; Sakura didn't have a clue what was going on in his head. She thought he was trying to make her shut up. That was when her phone rang – 'Temperature.' Deidara scowled, knowing full well that Sakura had set that personal ring tone to Sasuke. All good, sexual feelings he felt were as gone as quickly as they had come.

He sat up straight, getting off of her so she could answer her phone. She gave him an embarrassed apology and ran into the kitchen. Deidara ran his fingers through his bangs and shook his head once. _Damn it_…


	8. What Love Makes You Do

_**Upside-Down**_

_TK Grimm_

* * *

**Chapter Eight:**

**What Love Makes You Do**

* * *

Sakura came back into the living room and saw Deidara turn off the television set. He looked at her for a moment before taking his coat out of the closet by the front door and putting it on. He didn't say anything, but he already knew whatever Sasuke said had upset Sakura. She wasn't smiling or embarrassed like she was a few minutes before. She had more of an expressionless look on her face and just seemed down about something.

She started putting her shoes on, and by the time she had finished the strap on her heels, Deidara was all set and leaning against the wall, waiting for her. "Who's car are we taking?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"Can we take yours?" Sakura asked. Judging by her tone, she seemed reluctant to ask.

"Sure," he replied. They walked out the front door and got in the black Trans Am that was sitting in the driveway. Sakura was still being quiet, but Deidara didn't say anything about it. It wasn't any of his business to ask. He pulled out of the driveway just barely, but that's when he saw a single tear slowly make its way down her cheek. That was it for him.

Driving back up, he parked the car again and took out his keys. It was quiet for a while. Sakura didn't have to ask why he stopped; it was obvious. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down as she wiped the tear away. "I'm sorry…" she said quietly.

"What for, yeah?" Deidara asked. He turned his head to face her, waiting for her to say something else.

"You shouldn't have to see me like this," Sakura told him, rubbing her eyes. She was finally calmed down, so she placed her hands in her lap.

"Crying?"

Sakura nodded slightly. "Yeah…" Another tear escaped, making her clench her fists tightly in frustration with herself. "He just… It's like he doesn't even have a heart at all!" Before she knew it, she was crying. Deidara leaned over the seat and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. Sakura clung to him miserably, begging for whatever comfort he could offer her.

"What did he say?" Deidara didn't really want to know; he had a feeling whatever it was Sasuke said was going to make him go to his flat and bash his pretty little rich boy face in. _Or make him explode_… he added as a second thought. However, he knew that Sakura needed to vent, and that was his main purpose in asking.

Sakura's arms were secured around Deidara's neck, and his were around her waist. Why was it that whenever she embraced Sasuke, it was either half-heartedly returned or not returned at all? And yet, with Deidara, she felt nothing but the comfort and protection that she wanted and **needed**. "He canceled our plans again for tonight."

"Hasn't he done that every day this past week, yeah?" Deidara couldn't help but mention. Not that he minded Sasuke not taking Sakura out… he just didn't like the effect it was having on _Sakura_. In the back of his mind, he realized he was meddling with their relationship and frowned at the thought.

"Exactly!" Sakura cried, burying her face in his neck. "I know I shouldn't complain; he's busy, he's got work… but shouldn't I come before all of that at least once? And that client he has… what was her name…"

"Karin?" he offered. He knew he wasn't helping the situation… but he was only human. He _wanted_ Sakura to get over Sasuke. He _wanted_ her to move on and find someone new.

"Yes," she said bitterly, pulling back slightly. Her hands rested on his shoulders, but her gaze was averted. "**Her**. She just came into his life and is all over him! He doesn't even notice at all! And every time I mention it, he says I'm just jealous…" Sakura leaned forward, resting her forehead on Deidara's chest. "I know I sound like a whiny little girl… I try to keep it all inside, I really do; it's just… after so long, I need to let it all out. I'm sorry I dumped all of this on you, Deidara. I didn't mean to…"

Deidara held her chin in one hand and brushed away a few of her tears with his thumb on the other. "Don't worry about it… yeah," he said. "If it makes you feel better, you can rant about this any time."

Sakura finally managed to smile, thanks to him. Deidara did a lot for her, and all she did was cry about Sasuke. She wanted to make it up to him… she _had_ to make it up to him, somehow. "Thank you," she said softly. She leaned forward and kissed him on his cheek before settling down back in her seat. Buckling her seat belt, she said, "Let's not keep them waiting." _I __**will**__ make it up to you, Deidara_, she thought with determination.

Deidara paused, relaying what had just happened in his head a few times before it finally sank in. He nodded and started the car back up. "You gonna be okay?"

"I'll be fine," she told him reassuringly. Her green gaze traveled to the window. There was no stopping the next thought that passed through her mind.

_What if I wasn't dating Sasuke… but instead Deidara…_? She inwardly sighed; Sakura couldn't think like that. After all, Deidara wasn't interested in her that way. Absent-mindedly, she wondered what type of woman Deidara _**was**_ interested in. Obviously not someone as nagging and whiny as her. "Hey, Deidara?"

"Yeah?" he answered, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Um… just wondering, you know," she began evasively. "What do you look for in women?"

Deidara was late on hitting the brake as a red light came up and had to force the car into a quick halt complete with the brakes screeching and everything. "Huh?"

Sakura blushed and quickly turned her head. "Well, I was just, uh, curious, that's all. I mean… err, what qualities do you find attractive?" She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and saw him grinning at her with a raised eyebrow. Sakura turned to face him and glared at him, "Don't you dare say looks alone, because that's just lame."

Deidara sighed, shrugging his shoulders, "Guilty." The light turned green, so he proceeded towards the Elixur. "I don't know, I guess she'd have to be smart, yeah. Not like nerdy or any of that, but not stupid." Sakura nodded, listening attentively. "Definitely not a pushover, yeah," he said, knowing full-well that Sakura had no idea he was describing _**her**_. "She'd have to have an attitude, and yet be able to be sweet and caring and all that crap at the same time, you know?"

"Sounds like a nice girl," Sakura said with a slightly disappointed smile. She should have expected as much; there was no way she'd ever live up to _those_ standards. She just wasn't good enough for him, that's all.

"Oh, and she'd have to be into art," he added with a grin. "At least a little."

Sakura chuckled, "Oh, of _course_."

"And let me guess," Deidara continued with perfected ease. "You like your guys to be spoiled little rich boys with cocky attitudes and no respect for their women."

"Ouch."

He flashed her a smirk, "Just messing, yeah," before turning his gaze back to the road. There was a slight pause for a moment before he asked, a bit more hesitantly, "So are you gonna fix things with Sasuke?"

"Yeah," Sakura replied, a frown crossing her features. "I guess I am."

They didn't say much of anything for the rest of the car ride. Elixur wasn't much further, though, so it was a short trip. Sakura pointed out Hinata's white Mustang GT, and Deidara parked next to it. He looked at her for a moment, making sure she was done crying. Sakura looked in side view mirror to make sure she had cleaned herself up and then smiled at him, nodding her head. They got out of the car and walked through the front door.

Immediately, a woman in a punky black mini dress walked up to them with a beaming smile. "Hey, you made it!" Even though he hadn't seen her since high school, Deidara recognized Temari. She had this signature hairstyle where she put her hair in four spiky ponytails at the same time. She also had a thing for fishnet and dresses. Judging by her expression, she recognized him as well. "Wow, Deidara, how are you? It's been, what, three years?"

Deidara nodded, "Yeah, that's right. I'm… surviving," he grinned. "What about you?"

"Engaged," Temari said, showing him her ring.

"Oh, Temari!" Sakura squealed. "That's so pretty! Every time I see it, I get so jealous!"

"Nice," Deidara said. "Congratulations."

"Thanks, guys!" Temari replied. "I appreciate you coming out here today to help me out. At this rate, I'll be able to open this place up… let's see, today is the 16th… if I'm lucky, maybe by April 11th next month!"

"That's great, Temari," Sakura smiled. "I saw Hinata's car outside; is Ino here yet?"

"Not yet. She should be, soon, though. Let's see… hey, Deidara, you follow me; I've got something you can help me with. Sakura, Hinata's working with the lighting – you could start there if you want."

"Sure thing," Sakura said. She looked at Deidara, "Call me if you need anything."

He raised an eyebrow, "Rest assured; I'm all grown up."

Temari chuckled, "Oh, I believe it." She and Deidara headed down the hall and entered one of the doors. Sakura passed the hallway and kept going to the main room where Hinata was using a remote control to determine which lights were which colors.

"Hinata!" Sakura called, waving her hand.

Hinata turned her head and smiled, waving her free hand. "Sakura, you made it! You think you can help me out?"

"Sure," she replied.

"O-okay," Hinata said. "I'll stay here and check the lights. Can you, um, go up top and move them when I say? It's really hard with just one person."

"Not a problem," Sakura assured. She walked towards the back of the dance room and climbed up the ladder. Sakura mentally applauded herself for wearing pants that day instead of a skirt or dress. It would have been more than awkward to climb something otherwise. When she made it to the top, Sakura walked over the steel bridge and waited for further instructions. "Okay, I'm here. Which one do you want me to move?"

Hinata put her free hand on the side of her mouth to help project her voice. "The one directly to your left is a blue one. It's not as bright as the others, so I'm thinking it should be more towards the back."

Sakura looked at the railing and spotted a pair of worker's gloves that someone had left there before. That would definitely help; these lights got hot after a while. She put them on and went back to the light that Hinata designated as the blue one. After adjusting it, Sakura called out, "Try turning it on so we can see if it's pointing in the right direction."

Hinata flipped the switch on the remote control and a blue light beam shot from the large bulb. It pointed at a corner towards the back. "Don't worry, that's fine," Hinata said. "The lights all have a function where they can move back and forth, see?" She pushed another switch and the blue light swayed from one corner of the room to the other slowly.

"Good idea," Sakura said as Hinata turned the blue one off. "Are you going for complimentary colors with the lighting or just random?"

"Mostly random, but I don't think it should be too off. Like the orange light shouldn't be close to the green – those colors just don't go together."

"Okay, gotcha. What's next?"

Hinata flipped a few switches on and off until she found the right one. "Okay, the light that's on right now, yes, that red one there. Move that towards the front with the other red one so they criss-cross." Hinata turned the lights off when Sakura found them so the heat wouldn't be too much. She and Ino had far too many hot-light experiences during previous days they had helped Temari out.

* * *

"Hey, thanks again for helping me out," Temari said. She was hanging up curtains in one of the VIP rooms while Deidara helped with most of the big stuff. He first pushed the chairs into the rooms – Elixur had 2 VIP rooms – and then pushed things in place and helped with electronics. "I haven't seen you since high school, so it's really cool of you to do this."

"It's no problem, yeah," Deidara replied as he reached behind a refrigerator to plug it in the outlet. "What gave you the idea to open this place back up?"

"This city needs more fun things to do," Temari explained, tugging on one side of the red velvet curtains to get them even. "I was shocked when they shut this place down a few years ago. Besides; I'm twenty-two and engaged. I need to live a little more before I start thinking about settling down and having kids and all that. Sakura thinks otherwise, but she's still been a great help."

Deidara stood up and patted off his jeans, looking at the fridge. He opened it to make sure it was operating, and after feeling a slight bit of cold air beginning to form, he shut the door. "Sakura doesn't like the idea of a club?"

"No, it's not that," Temari said. She hopped off the chair she was standing on to help her reach. "She keeps telling me that I should take it easy; and since I'm the first of us girls to get married, she's been really excited about the kids idea."

"She likes kids, huh?" Deidara mused. He and Temari looked at the curtains from a further point of view to make sure they were aligned evenly before continuing their conversation.

"It's not her fault," Temari mentioned regretfully. "I mean, she can't have any, so I can't say I blame her for wanting to be around others."

"She can't have kids?"

Temari covered her mouth with her hand, "Oh, I thought you knew." She shook her head once and smiled, "It's no big deal; she's taking it quite well. Anyways, that should cover the VIP rooms. Thanks a lot for your help, Deidara. It's hard to move big stuff without a man around to help out."

Deidara nodded, "Anytime… yeah."

The two of them left the room and proceeded past the main entrance to the dance floor. Hinata was fumbling with a remote control and a pink blur rushed across the bridge near the ceiling. Hinata looked up towards Sakura and said, "I found it! The purple one is in the far right corner, see?"

"Yeah, I see it, thanks, Hinata!" Sakura called out.

"Hey, how's it going?" Temari asked, her hands rested on her hips.

"G-great!" Hinata said. "This is the last light!" She noticed Deidara looking up at the light arrangement and blushed slightly. "H-hi, Deidara. Do you remember me?"

Deidara looked at her for a moment, trying to place her face in his head. "Oh, Hinata right?"

"That's right," she replied with a smile. "Good to see you."

"You too, yeah."

Sakura made it to the last step on the ladder and walked over to them, looking at Temari. "Hinata and I arranged the lights in a random, slightly complementary style. You can set them to back and forth or criss-cross motion, and it turns out pretty cool."

"Awesome!" Temari exclaimed. She turned and faced the back, "Shikamaru! Can you dim the white lights?"

Her fiancé's voice came through the speakers, "_Ne… sort of troublesome. What do you need that for?_"

"Hinata and Sakura finished the colored lighting; let's take a look!" Without further ado, the white lights turned off and Hinata activated the colored ones with her remote control. She turned the switches for the criss-cross and back and forth motions for a demonstration, as well. After Temari's exclamation of approval, she turned them off and the regular lights came back on shortly after. "Great job, guys!" Temari said, beaming. "We got more done today than I thought."

"Where's Ino?" Sakura asked, tilting her head to the side.

"She called a little bit ago," Temari explained. "Said she couldn't make it. Not a big deal," she said patting Deidara on the shoulder, "'cause we had this cute artist here to help out." Deidara rolled his eyes in amusement, but Hinata and Sakura were giggling with glee. Temari yawned slowly, covering her mouth. "Well, I think that's good for today. Hinata and I have been here since ten working on this stuff."

"Still going for the 11th then?" Sakura asked politely.

"Yep," Temari nodded. "I've already got almost a full staff who's gonna work as soon as I open it. You guys should come by opening night."

"D-definitely," Hinata said.

* * *

The next morning, Sakura's alarm woke her up right on time. She got dressed in a more casual pace, happy that she didn't have to worry about Deidara taking her parking spot at work anymore. They drove together and just alternated whose car they took.

After a simple bowl of cereal for breakfast, Sakura began to wonder. Deidara still hadn't gotten up yet. _Maybe he forgot to set his alarm_, Sakura thought. She put her dishes in the dishwasher and headed back down the hallway to his room. It was a two bedroom apartment, so his room was right across from hers. She knocked on the door, "Deidara?"

When she didn't get an answer, Sakura quietly opened the door and peeked in. He was still sleeping. She rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself as she walked over and sat down on the side of his bed. "Hey," she said softly, poking him in the forehead. "Time for work, Dei, you gotta get up."

He rolled over, groaning in protest and burying his face in his pillow. Sakura chuckled, "Come on… we're gonna be late."

"Go without me… yeah," came his muffled reply. For some reason, his voice didn't sound the same.

Sakura tilted her head to the side, "Are you feeling all right?"

"No."

With a bit of extra effort, she managed to get him to lay on his back again. "What's wrong?" she asked softly, placing her hand on his forehead. "You do feel a little warm."

"I'm sick. So go away."

Sakura sighed, "Let me take your temperature."

"No. I'm just sick."

"Yes, and you should let me take your temperature so I know if you have a fever," Sakura said exasperatedly.

Deidara groaned again sleepily and covered his face with another pillow. "Just go away."

"All right… if you won't let me take your temperature, then tell me what's wrong with you." Sakura put her index and middle fingers on the side of his neck to feel his pulse, making sure it was normal. After a minute passed and he had a normal heart rate, she was puzzled as to what was wrong with him.

"I don't know, yeah," he said, rolling over to lie on his side. He wasn't facing her. "I just don't feel good. Tell Sasori I'm using a sick day."

Sakura tilted her head to the side, looking at him with concern. "Deidara, I'm going to medical school… You're making me worried; at least let me make sure you'll be okay."

He sighed, slowly raising up and facing her. With a convincing grin, he said, "I'll be fine. I'll call you if anything happens, which it won't."

"Promise you'll call," Sakura said, holding up her pinky finger and giving him a playful smile.

Deidara rolled his eyes and wrapped his pinky around hers for the pinky-swear promise that little kids do. "I promise. Now go away, yeah," he said, sliding back under the covers again.

Sakura smiled, "Okay. I'll come straight home after work to make sure you're all right."

"Uh-huh."

Sakura said goodbye again and quietly closed his door. She left the apartment through the garage and opened the door before getting in her car. After turning her key, a puzzled frown crossed her features. Her car wouldn't start. _What on earth is going on here_? she thought with bewilderment. She tried again and again, but it just wouldn't start. With a sigh, she walked back in the apartment after closing the garage door.

She peeked in Deidara's room again and asked, "Hey Deidara? My car won't start… is it okay if I drive yours?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks," she said smiling. "See you after work."

"'k."

As soon as he heard the Trans Am start up and drive away, Deidara rose up in his bed and smirked. _Oh, cherry chick, you are __**so**__ naïve, yeah._ It really was amazing she was in medical school and couldn't tell he was faking it. He shrugged and got out of bed, putting on a pair of ratty old jeans and a baggy Led Zeppelin concert t-shirt.

Deidara opened the fridge in the kitchen and took out a beer before heading out to the garage. He opened the tall garage door for extra light and set his drink on a shelf by a bunch of tools. He opened the front door to Sakura's Tommy Kaira and reached down under the dash, feeling around for a power cord. His fingers reached the ignition power converter and plugged it back in.

Checking the keys, he started the car and it started up right away. He smirked as he turned it off. Sakura didn't have a clue that nothing was wrong with her car at all. After putting in an old Ozzy Ozbourne CD, he walked back into the house for a moment and brought a box into the garage from his room. Deidara sat down on the ground by the side of the car and fished through until he found the right materials. A paint brush and silver paint to start.

* * *

Sakura sat down in the driver's seat of the Trans Am, relishing the feeling. She was in a classic hot rod – that belonged to a _**very**_ sexy artist. Starting the car, she had a smile on her face the entire time to the café where she usually met Ino and Hinata. She still had the stupid grin on her face as she sat down in her usual spot.

"You look rather cheerful today," Ino smirked. "Stay up late with Sasuke last night?"

Sakura blinked, realizing she never did call Sasuke the day before. "No, actually. I forgot to call him, too. Oh well, he'll get over it."

Ino's jaw dropped. "Forehead, are you feeling okay?" she asked, reaching over the table and feeling to see if Sakura had a fever. She felt normal, so Ino sat back down.

"I feel fine," Sakura insisted. "But I think Deidara's sick; he's missing work today."

"Oh, what's wrong with him?" Hinata asked with a concerned frown.

"Not sure," Sakura said, sinking slightly in her chair. "He's real stubborn – wouldn't let me take his temperature, either. I'm really worried, but he promised he'd call if he needed me, so I guess I'll have to go with that."

"How come you drove his car?" Ino asked, curiosity evident.

Sakura sighed, slumping even further in her seat. "I think mine broke down. It wouldn't even start today."

"Wow, everything's falling apart," Hinata said sullenly. "Are you going to, um, take it somewhere to get it fixed?"

"No, Deidara's really good with cars," Sakura said, managing to sit upright. "I'll ask him to take a look at it when he feels better."

Ino raised a delicate blonde eyebrow, studying her best friend perceptively. "Must be handy to have him around."

"Yeah, it's great," Sakura smiled. "He's really fun; it's too bad you couldn't come to Elixur yesterday. Deidara was there, too."

Hinata nodded, smiling sweetly as well. "Yes, he helped Temari move a bunch of heavy stuff. Sakura and I finished the lights, too."

"Oh, that's good," Ino said. "I talked to Temari on the phone last night; she said she's opening it hopefully April 11th."

"That's right," Sakura replied.

Ino paused again, still studying Sakura inquisitively. "So… is Deidara still as hot as he was in high school?"

"H-huh?" Sakura panicked. "I don't know! He's my **friend**! I'm dating Sasuke, I'm not _allowed_ to check out other guys."

"Sure you're not _allowed_ to," Ino continued with ease. "Doesn't mean you don't anyway. Come on… what do you think, Hinata?"

Hinata blushed, looking away towards the window. "W-well, he is… very attractive."

A sly grin crossed Ino's features, "I thought so. Hmm… speaking of which, how did Sasuke react when you told him you and Deidara were living together?"

Sakura nearly choked on her coffee. "Well… about that…"

Both Ino and Hinata's eyes widened. "You didn't tell him?"

"No," Sakura said miserably, curling herself into a ball and hiding her face. "I couldn't! He'd get so mad!"

"No… you think?" Ino asked, voice dripping in sarcasm. "Sakura… you do realize that you're _dating_ Sasuke and not Deidara, right?"

"Of course I realize that!" the pink haired woman retorted. "How could I not?"

Ino shrugged, holding her hands up defensively for a moment. "Just something to think about, you know. Which one means more to you and all that."

"Deidara and I are **just friends**," Sakura insisted.

Hinata's quite voice spoke up, "Well… you two are rather close…"

Sakura sighed, "Guys, I really don't need this right now… Besides, even if I was interested in Deidara – which I'm **not** – nothing could happen. He's not interested in _me_."

"Oh, I beg to differ," Ino mumbled.

"You what?" Sakura asked having not heard her clearly.

"I said I saw the big dipper," Ino said quickly. "You know, that constellation. I was bored last night and just looked at the stars; you'd be surprising how relaxing that is."

"Yeah," Sakura said softly. "Okay, well, I gotta go, guys. Have to get to work."

"Ask Sasori out for me again!" Ino pleaded.

Sakura slapped her forehead in annoyance, "How many times must I say this? I'm **not** going to ask my **boss** if he'll go on a date with you!"

"Why not?"

Sakura sighed exasperatedly. She said her goodbyes to her friends and left the coffeehouse, heading to Akatsuki Studios. "What are they thinking," she muttered in annoyance as she drove down the road. "I can't like Deidara that way – I'm dating Sasuke. How dare they think otherwise! I love Sasuke, not Deidara! Sasuke!"

She frowned as she came to a red light, her eyes wandering to the beautiful phoenix painted on the hood of the Trans Am. "Deidara…" Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. "I can't help but wonder if things would be different if… well, if _we_ were a couple… and not me and Sasuke."

The light turned green, so she tapped her foot on the gas pedal and continued on her way. Running a stressed out hand through her hair, she sighed again. "What kind of girl has feelings for two guys? Ugh, I'm such a horrible person… I can't believe I have a crush on Deidara. Damn it!"

Sakura kept her left hand on the wheel, but reached over to the dash and turned on the radio, begging for some sort of distraction. She didn't care what station the radio was on, as long as some noise or music or whatever passed through her ears. To her luck, it was on the rock station playing a Mötley Crüe song, one of Deidara's favorite bands.

_Without you  
In my life  
I slowly wilt and die  
But with you by my side  
You're the reason I'm alive_

She cursed and changed the station to the next one. "No damn love songs."

_It's raining men!  
Hallelujah it's raining men!  
Amen!  
I'm gonna go out  
I'm gonna let myself get  
Absolutely soaking wet!_

_It's raining men  
Hallelujah it's raining men  
Every specimen!  
Tall! Blonde! Dark and lean!  
Rough and tough and strong and mean!_

"Ugh," Sakura groaned, changing the station again.

_I never had a dream come true  
Till the day that I found you!  
Even though I pretend that I've moved on  
You'll always be my baby_

_I never find the words to say  
You're the one I think about-_

"Damn it, I said no love songs!" Sakura yelled, whacking the Next button again. This was the last straw. If it played another stupid song to ruin her day, she'd lose it.

_Your arms are my castle  
Your heart is my sky  
They wipe away tears that I've cried  
The good and the bad times  
We've been through them all  
You make me rise when I fall_

_Cause every time we touch-_

"That's it." Sakura turned the radio off and had a scowl on her face for the remainder of the ride. She parked in her usual spot and sat there for a moment to calm down. When she was relaxed again, Sakura got out of the car and walked inside the building. She was the first one there, as usual, so she booted up the computer and started turning the lights on.

The bells on the front door chimed as Sasori came in, looking as calm and serene as ever. Sakura smiled at him, "Good morning. Deidara won't be here today."

"Oh?" Sasori asked as he hung his black coat up on the coat rack.

"Yeah, he's not feeling well," Sakura said with a frown. "My car broke down this morning, too. When he's feeling better, I'm going to ask him to take a look at it."

"Sounds like a rough morning."

"You have no idea," Sakura sighed as she finally sat down in her chair at the front desk. "At least I don't have class today," she added with a chuckle.

* * *

Sakura got home around 4:15. The garage door was closed, but she heard rock music coming from it. She parked the Trans Am and walked inside the apartment through the front door. Deidara must have heard her come in, for he emerged from the garage soon after. "Hey," Sakura greeted, walking up to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," he replied.

"That's a relief," Sakura said. "You had me worried. What's going on in the garage?" Deidara paused, searching his mind to think of something, but luckily, Sakura jumped to a conclusion. "Oh, are you fixing my car? Wow, Deidara, thanks! You're great!"

Deidara scratched the back of his head sheepishly, a stupid grin plastered on his face, "A-heh-heh… err, yeah. Sure thing." He inwardly sighed that Sakura was clueless as she was at times like this. "How was work?"

"Great," she answered, walking towards the garage. "Lets take a look at my car, shall we?"

Deidara quickly stood in front of the door, leaning against it and laughing nervously. "Uh, no, not a good idea, yeah. Lot's of tools and stuff, and it's dirty in there. I'll tell you when it's fixed, how about that?"

Sakura tilted her head to the side, confused. "Oh, okay. Sure. When do you think it'll be done?"

"Hopefully tonight."

"Great!" Sakura said brightly. She walked back over to the entryway and took her shoes off. "Any ideas for dinner?"

"Anything," Deidara sighed. He realized he skipped lunch that day because he had been painting Sakura's car.

"Okay, I'll see what we've got in the fridge."

"I'll be in the garage… yeah," he said, opening the door, walking through, and closing it _very_ quickly. Sakura looked in that direction with a puzzled expression but shrugged nonetheless. Maybe it was a guy thing.

She picked out a few things to make for dinner, settling on a homemade pizza, and started setting everything up. When it was all set, she put it in the oven at 425 degrees and turned on the television set to help pass the time. The oven dinged, signaling the timer she set was up, so Sakura walked over and checked to make sure it was ready. Leaving it set out on the stove to cool off, Sakura turned off the oven and walked to the garage door.

She knocked on it a few times. "Deidara?"

After a while, the door opened. "Yeah?" he asked. It was only open part of the way, so Sakura couldn't see past him. Yet for some reason, there was a big blue stain on his jeans.

"What happened?" Sakura asked with a baffled expression.

"Err… nothing," Deidara said quickly. "How's dinner coming along?"

"Oh, it's ready, just needs to be cut," Sakura replied with a smile. She furrowed her eyebrows in slight confusion, "Are you all right? You're acting kinda weird…"

"I'm fine, yeah," he said, coming into the kitchen and closing the door before Sakura could peek out into the garage. She wasn't sure before, but now she was positive. Deidara was hiding something, and Sakura was bound and determined to find out what it was.

After dinner, Sakura started cleaning off the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher. By the time she finished with that and turned back to where Deidara was previously sitting at the table, she frowned. He was already gone and back in the garage. _He better not have made my car even more broken than it already was_, she thought with a raised eyebrow in that direction.

Pushing these thoughts aside, she took a damp washcloth and wiped the table clean. Afterwards, she returned to the living room and watched TV for a while. Another hour passed, and Deidara still hadn't left the garage. "What is he **doing** out there," Sakura mumbled in slight annoyance.

With a sigh, she turned off the television and walked down the hall to her room. Sakura picked out a pair of comfy silk pajamas and walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Deciding to take her shower a bit early, also to help kill time until he was finished with whatever it was he was doing, she turned on the water and waited for it to get to the right temperature before stepping in.

Shower completed, she slipped in her pajamas and returned to the living room. Eventually, Sakura settled on watching Best Week Ever on VH1. At least it was funny and could take her mind off things. If Deidara's mystery garage project wasn't enough, while in the shower, Sakura was reminded of her debate with her friends earlier that morning.

_I can't believe Ino is suggesting that I have to __**choose**__ between Deidara and Sasuke. Deidara is my friend, Sasuke is my boyfriend. Simple as that_.

As soon as the thoughts passed through her mind, the garage door opened again. Sakura looked over the edge of the couch curiously as Deidara finally emerged, closing the door behind him. She shut the TV off with her remote control and stared at him from her position on the couch. From an outsider's point of view, she probably looked like a curious little kid, examining an animal of sorts and waiting to see what it would do next.

Deidara washed his hands in the kitchen sink, and after toweling them off to dry, he leaned on the counter and looked at her with a smirk. "It's been driving you nuts, hasn't it?"

"Ye-esssssss," Sakura moaned, sliding down the couch. She quickly stood up and rushed over to him, "Can I see now? What did you do? Is my car fixed?"

"Yeah," he said simply. He gestured towards the door with a wave of his hand. "Go for it." Sakura squealed with delight and sprinted towards the garage door. "Oh, Sakura," Deidara added. "Don't touch; it still needs to dry."

Sakura tilted her head in confusion but shrugged and nodded, continuing her way out the garage door. She froze as soon as she saw her car, jaw dropping in shock. A silver dragon was painted on the side of Sakura's Tommy Kaira, going from the edge of the front door to the rear end of the vehicle. It had several yellow accents with a few small touches of blue and green, perfecting the color combination. It was _extremely_ professional and perfectly mirrored on the other side.

She felt tears begin to well up in her eyes, and she slowly brought her left hand up to her mouth, using every ounce of willpower to hold in her glee. Sakura just looked at her car, smiling with watery eyes. She felt Deidara's arms wrap around her from behind as he rested his chin on her shoulder. "So… will this do?"

Sakura whirled around and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Deidara's arms were around her waist, his blue eyes looking down at her with his usual smirk. "Glad you like it… yeah."


	9. The Party

_**Upside-Down**_

_TK Grimm_

* * *

**Chapter Nine:**

**The Party**

* * *

"Sakura… we need to talk."

Sakura looked up from her glass of wine and gazed into Sasuke's midnight blue eyes. She set the glass down with a soft _clink_ on the table and asked, "What do you want to talk about?"

Sasuke reached over and took hold of Sakura's hand in his. "I feel like we're drifting apart. I know I've been busy with work, and I should make more time for you, but it's difficult."

A twinge of guilt passed over Sakura. Ever since Deidara moved in with her, she felt several rising emotions and feelings for him, frequently forgetting about Sasuke. It was Tuesday, March 18th. Sasuke called her during her lunch hour at Akatsuki Studios and asked her to meet him at their favorite restaurant. She felt bad, she admitted that. She was dating Sasuke – she was in _love_ with Sasuke.

"You're right," she said at last, squeezing his hand reassuringly. "I've been a bit too needy," Sakura realized. "I understand you have work; your job is very important and you have a lot of responsibilities there."

Sasuke nodded his head once, "I'm going to try to put forth more effort in our relationship. I talked to Karin-" Sakura's gaze turned to steel for a split second "-and she helped me realize again how important you are."

Sakura paused, trying to avoid the Karin subject. "Deidara moved in with me," she said, getting to the point. Now was as good a time as ever. "He needed a place to stay, and I didn't want him to take out a loan just so he could keep his apartment. It's only temporary until he saves up enough to get his own place."

Sasuke's expression remained stoic and emotionless for a few minutes before he finally seemed calm and replied, "That's fine. I know how you are about your friends. You go to great lengths just to help them out." There was a brief pause, just long enough. Sakura was unsure, but she felt as if there was a possibility Sasuke was using this time to avoid showing tinges of jealousy and anger. "Sakura, I don't want us to fight anymore." At least he calmed himself down. Making progress; the Deidara moving in thing would have been worse had he allowed it to defeat the purpose of meeting Sakura that day.

"Neither do I," Sakura said, finally smiling. Sasuke really was amazing. All she had with Deidara was a little crush, and he didn't feel the same way, so she had to just move on and get over him. That's all there was to it. Besides… Sasuke loved her. He told her so. "We should just put the past couple weeks behind us."

"I agree," Sasuke said, a grin crossing his lips at last. "My brother's best friend is celebrating his birthday today. Normally I wouldn't give a damn, but since Itachi is hosting it, mom and dad say I have to make an appearance at least. And hey, a lot of people will be there, so it can't be that bad. What do you say?"

"A party, huh?" Sakura repeated. "Who all is going?" She didn't want to go to some guy's party whom she had never met and only know one person.

Sasuke shrugged, "A lot of people. Kisame told his friends to all bring their friends, so it's gonna be big." He paused, trying to think of someone Sakura knew. "Temari is going; she'll probably bring Ino."

"Okay, it sounds like fun," Sakura agreed. "I'll go; what time does it start?"

Sasuke glanced at his watch and said, "It's 4:45 now. Kisame said it starts at six."

Sakura smiled, "Lets take our time then." That was when something clicked, causing several high school flashbacks to pass through her mind. She remembered Kisame – he was a senior like Deidara and Sasori when she became a freshman. They had never really talked though. She left him alone, and he left her alone because she was friends with Deidara and Sasori. Kisame and Itachi were part of that 'Akatsuki' high school gang. _I wonder if Deidara and Sasori are going to be there, then_…

* * *

"Come on," Deidara sighed, pausing momentarily from the details of his current clay bird sculpture. "It's Kisame's birthday."

"I rarely speak to Kisame," Sasori said, not once looking up from his own wooden creation. He was carving a scorpion.

"We all hung out in high school, yeah," Deidara pointed out.

"That was high school."

Deidara rolled his eyes, "Don't be so boring, yeah? It'll be fun."

Sasori looked at Deidara with a raised eyebrow, "Assuming that you find drunken idiots amusing?"

"Yeah, actually I do," Deidara shrugged.

"I have more important things to take care of," Sasori said nonchalantly. "Go. Just so you know, if you come to work tomorrow with a hangover, I'm only going to rub it in."

"Why does that not surprise me," he sighed.

* * *

"Do you think this is a little much?" Sakura asked when she finally came out of her room. "I mean… we're just going to a party…"

Deidara took his blue eyes off the television set only to have them practically glued to Sakura. Her hair was up in a messy pink bun with several spiky wisps. She wore a cute purple dress that went just above her knees that tied around her neck at the top, leaving her back exposed. Sakura wore black high heels, two purple earrings, and a petite silver necklace.

Sakura grinned, seeing Deidara's eyes wandering all over her, stopping in a few very feminine areas every so often. "Okay… maybe it _**is**_ a bit much."

"No… no, I like it, yeah," Deidara said, still staring at her. "Looks… was just… driveway."

Sakura raised her eyebrows, "That wasn't even a sentence."

Deidara blinked a few times as if brought out of a trance, "Sorry, what? Oh. Yeah, looks good. You ready to go then?"

"Yes," she said giggling. She followed him out to the Trans Am and they left, headed for the party.

Deidara turned the radio on and when 'Listen to Your Heart' started playing, he looked at Sakura suspiciously. "Did you mess with my radio?"

"Just a little," Sakura teased. "Sorry."

"Its fine, yeah," Deidara replied, rolling his eyes as he tried to find the rock station again. Once he found it and heard Godsmack playing 'Keep Away' he appeared satisfied. Sakura smiled slightly as she looked out the window. Deidara wasn't like other guys, that was for sure.

"You know, I've always liked that about you," Sakura couldn't help but mention. Deidara glanced at her briefly to show he was listening. "Most guys let the lady choose, whether it be a movie or a radio station or whatnot. Like, I'll mention a movie that I like, and Sasuke will immediately go on and on about how **he** likes that movie, too. But you're not like that, you choose what you like, and if you _don't_ like it, you say so." She chuckled lightly, "Dunno why, but I really like that."

Deidara paused for a moment before laughing, "You're weird."

"Hey!" she retorted, playfully punching him in the shoulder.

Deidara shook his head in amusement and parked his car. "Come on, cherry chick, yeah. Can't keep _Prince Charming_ waiting." Sakura wasn't sure if he was teasing her with that line or being sarcastic, but she decided she was better off not asking.

A lot of people had already arrived, proving that the party was going to be just as crowded as Sakura expected. As soon as she and Deidara walked through the door, Ino came rushing up to them. "Hey guys!" she squealed. "You made it! Wow, Forehead, you look great."

"Gee thanks, Ino-pig," Sakura scoffed.

Deidara decided it was better to not ask questions – girls were weird. "I'm gonna find Kisame… yeah."

"Okay," Sakura said, smiling at him. He gave her a quick grin before heading off in another direction.

Ino watched him leave and then looked at Sakura, "Hinata wasn't kidding; he looks just as good as he did in high school."

"Yeah, he does…"

A sly grin crossed Ino's lips as she looked at her best friend whose eyes were glued to Deidara's back. He was talking to Kisame and Itachi. Ino waved her hand in front of Sakura a few times, "Hey, Forehead! Yo!"

Sakura blinked several times, shaking her head once. She looked at Ino and said, "Oh, sorry, I was miles away. Did you say something?"

The grin on Ino's face only seemed to increase with this. "You were staring at him."

"At who?" Sakura asked, though her shaking voice revealed she had just figured out she actually _had_ been staring at Deidara.

"That sexy blonde artist over there."

"Ino!" Sakura scolded. "First you try to ask my boss out, and now you want to ask Deidara?"

"Hush!" Ino demanded, clamping her hand over Sakura's mouth. "I never said that! Though I think you should go say hi to Sasuke rather than ogle Deidara over there."

"I was **not** ogling!" Sakura shrieked. She quickly clamped her hand over her mouth to shut herself up. The last thing she needed right now was to draw more attention to herself.

Ino shrugged, "Okay, okay. I'm gonna find Temari; Sasuke's over in the kitchen." Sakura nodded and walked into the kitchen area of the flat. Ino smirked and headed downstairs. Temari was playing darts with some guy she barely recognized but couldn't remember his name. He had slicked back platinum blonde hair and a cocky smile – not to mention nearly every obscenity she had ever heard and then some was coming from his mouth every time Temari scored higher than he did.

Temari saw Ino out of the corner of her eye and turned to wave her over. "Hey, Ino! Sakura and Deidara here yet?"

Ino grinned, winking at her friend, "You bet they are."

"Deidara's here?" the guy Temari was playing asked. "Damn, better go see how that asshole's doing. I heard he fuckin' moved out."

"He's probably upstairs with Kisame, Hidan," Temari said. "Oh, and I heard he moved in with Sakura, isn't that right, Ino?"

"Yep," Ino replied. Hidan grunted and walked back upstairs, giving Ino an opportunity. "Play a game of darts with me, Temari. I wanna have some girl talk."

Temari raised an eyebrow, "All right. Black or purple?"

"Purple," Ino said, accepting the violet darts. "Who's first?"

"You can go," Temari replied, pushing the red button on the dart board to start the game. Ino threw a dart, hitting the triple 20. "Wow, nice start," Temari smirked. "Okay; what's on your mind?"

"Sakura and Sasuke," Ino said, throwing another dart. She hit a regular five.

"I thought you were over Sasuke," Temari said; as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Ino's dart was flying and completely missed the board, hitting the wall and bouncing to the floor.

"I _am_ over Sasuke," Ino retorted, walking over to pick up her darts. She reached down and picked up the fallen one, "I haven't crushed on him since junior high school." Pulling the other two out of the board, she walked back and leaned against the opposite wall.

"Heh." Temari threw one of her black darts, hitting the green circle outside the red bull's-eye. "Nice… fifty so far for me, against your sixty-five." She threw another, hitting a fifteen-pointer. "What about Sakura and Sasuke?"

"Do you see a spark in their relationship?"

Temari threw her last dart and, to her frustration, hit the double-two. "Is this about your Sakura-Deidara suspicion?" she sighed. When Ino didn't reply right away, she continued as she took out her darts. "You can't go around meddling with people's relationships."

"I know that!" Ino retorted, feeling her temper rise. As soon as Temari was out of the way, she threw a dart and hit triple eight scoring her twenty-four points. She paused a moment to calm herself down and threw her second dart, hitting the black space outside the point wheel. With a sigh, Ino continued, "Sakura's my best friend; I want her to be happy, you know? I don't like the idea of meddling with a relationship, but they say the people outside the relationship see it better than the people actually involved."

Temari raised an eyebrow when Ino's last dart hit a four. "So you're saying that because you're an outsider, you believe that you are one hundred percent correct when you say that Sakura would be happier with Deidara."

Ino hesitated, repeating Temari's words in her head. "Yeah, actually. That's what I think."

Temari shook her head once, slowly. "Ino, it's not your place. If it doesn't work out with Sasuke, she could try it with Deidara, but that's only if it doesn't work out. You can't tell Sakura what to do, especially in her love life."

"Yeah, I know," Ino said. "I'll finish this game later; sorry Temari."

"Don't do anything you'll regret later," Temari warned as Ino headed back upstairs.

* * *

"Sasuke, there you are," Sakura said, smiling at her boyfriend. "Some party, huh?"

Sasuke smiled at her briefly and took another drink of …something; Sakura couldn't tell what it was. "Yeah. It's not as bad as I thought it would be."

Sakura shook her head once, "Nah, I think it'll be a fun night. So what do they have to drink here, anything good?"

"Glad you asked," Kisame's deep voice sounded. Sakura turned her head and saw him walking past her and opening the fridge. "Sakura, right?"

"That's right," Sakura nodded. "Happy Birthday, Kisame."

"Thanks," he grinned. He took out a bottle of something green and set it on the table. Sakura's gaze traveled from Sasuke, who was looking at Kisame with a raised eyebrow, to Deidara, who was standing off to the side next to Itachi. Itachi seemed as stoic and emotionless as usual, but Deidara had what she believed to be a slightly worried expression. Kisame set out two glasses and a salt shaker with the lid off, grinning madly at Sakura.

Sakura took a step back and asked cautiously, "So… what's that for?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, smirking in amusement, "I think it's time for a drinking contest."

"W-what?" Sakura panicked.

"Oh, shit," Hidan said from the top of the stairs, eyes on the table as he entered the kitchen. A grin crossed his lips as he folded his arms across his exceedingly bare chest. "Who's going first?"

Kisame set down a bowl full of limes, still grinning. "I think pinky here should give it a _shot_."

Sakura looked at Sasuke, who nodded his head in her direction, his usual smirk still on his face. For some reason, her eyes traveled to Deidara after that. He gave her a warning look and shook his head ever so slightly, silently telling her to just walk away.

"Not giving up now, are you Forehead girl?" Sakura froze when she heard Ino's voice. Her green eyes traveled to the staircase leading to the basement and stopped when they saw Ino. Her hands were on her hips and a grin was plastered on her face. "Or are you just afraid you'll lose to me like you do in everything else."

Sakura slammed her hands on the table with frustration, glaring at Ino. "All right, get over here, Ino-pig. **Let's go.**"

Deidara slapped his forehead; what the hell was Sakura thinking? Ino grinned and sat down at the table, Sakura took her seat across from her. Kisame glanced at Itachi with a raised eyebrow, but the older Uchiha sibling shook his head, waving his hand once in dismissal.

After Kisame poured two glasses of the strange green drink – part of Sakura wishing it was something simple like a margarita – he sprinkled a circle of salt around the edge of both glasses. "The first one to give in is the loser. You girls sure you can take this?"

Ino shrugged her shoulders, grinning in Sakura's direction. "Of course! What are your terms, Sakura? If you win, which won't happen, what do you get?"

Sakura paused, thinking this over. She was never a party girl; she had never been in a drinking contest before, especially not with weird, green, salty things. And what were those limes for? She swallowed hard with nervousness, praying that no one noticed. "If I win, you have to stop making me ask Sasori on a date for you."

Deidara suddenly chuckled with amusement, "She made you ask Sasori out, yeah?"

"Several times," Sakura told him with a sigh.

Ino shrugged, "Whatever." She smirked at Sakura, "If I win, your sexy artist here is spending a night with _me_."

"Out of the question!" Sakura said, standing up and glaring at Ino.

Deidara looked between the occupants of the kitchen, "Since when am I a bet?"

"Nah, let them have their fun," Kisame said, leaning against the wall nearby.

"Hey, you've got Sasuke," Ino pointed out. "I want a night with Deidara."

"That's not exactly mine to give!" Sakura panicked. She frantically looked over at Sasuke, whose smirk had disappeared. He appeared to be staring at the table with an emotionless expression that resembled Itachi's.

"Eh, go for it, cherry chick… yeah," Deidara said, waving his hand in front of him a couple times.

Sakura sighed in defeat, sitting back at the table. "Fine." She looked at the bowl of limes and reluctantly asked, "But what am I supposed to do with _those_?"

"All in good time," Hidan smirked. Oh yes, he knew _exactly_ what **those** were for.

Ino lifted her glass and raised her eyebrows in Sakura's direction. "Here's to you, Forehead girl!" Sakura rolled her eyes and lifted her glass to her lips. Both girls quickly drank the strange green drink. Ino then ran her tongue along the side of the glass to get the salt, so Sakura mimicked her action. The blonde girl grinned, "One down."

* * *

Six drinks down. Somewhat of a crowd was beginning to form in the kitchen and area around. Lots of party guests were looking at the two women with their contest. The things they said were getting more and more amusing as time went on as well. When Temari came up and saw what they were doing, she nearly panicked and forced them to stop, but Sasuke told her to let them continue. Temari hesitantly agreed, but she kept a close watch on them.

"When are you going to realize you can't beat me in anything?" Ino asked, her voice strangely high.

Sakura set her now empty glass down on the table and gave her a sluggish grin. "When are you going to realize that I already _have_ beaten you in everything?"

"I think its time for a lime," Ino said, a smirk crossing her features. She took one from the basket and effortlessly cut it into fourths, handing Sakura one of the slices. "Where to start…" she mused. "Sakura, give me your wrist."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, but in her slightly intoxicated state, couldn't form words into a question, so she reached her arm over towards Ino, her wrist facing up. Ino kept her teal eyes on Sakura's sea foam green ones as she leaned down, bringing Sakura's wrist to her mouth. Ignoring Sakura's baffled look, she licked her best friend's wrist. "W-what the hell are you doing?"

"It's part of the game, Sakura," Sasuke said, folding his arms as he continued to watch.

Ino grinned and sprinkled salt on Sakura's wrist, holding it firmly in place when the pink haired woman squirmed a little. "Now you go."

"A-are you serious?" Sakura squeaked. Ino nodded, and Sakura, having seen the many stares she was getting, hesitantly took Ino's wrist. She slowly brought it to her mouth and licked a small area. Then she sprinkled salt on it.

Ino gave Sakura what she hoped her friend would call an encouraging look. _Doing great, Sakura_, she thought, glancing at Deidara. He was staring at Sakura with a strange expression, backed completely against the wall. One of his hands gripped a doorknob nearby tightly, and the other was flat on the wall behind him. He swallowed hard, staring at her and waiting to see if Sakura would go through with it.

Ino turned her gaze to Sasuke, to see that he, too, was slowly becoming affected by this. It was turning him on, seeing the two of them playing this game. His arms were crossed, but his eyes were **glued** to Sakura. Ino returned to looking at Sakura, who was staring at the lime slice with uncertainty. Ino raised her refilled glass to her lips, as did Sakura, and they slammed their glasses. After that, Ino bit directly into the lime slice, forcing Sakura to do the same. Then they brought each other's wrists to their lips yet again, this time to lick off the salt.

Sakura shook with the sour and salty tastes mixing around in her. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take. Not only was it weird, it was _embarrassing_! Judging by everyone else's expressions, she must have been doing it right though, and that was a bit of needed relief.

"Your turn," Ino said. There were two lime slices left; might as well use them. She handed one to Sakura and slid the salt shaker in her direction. "Where to?" _Pick somewhere sexy, Sakura,_ Ino thought. _You've __**got**__ to get their attention! You've __**got**__ to get __**Deidara's**__ attention_!

Sakura bit her lower lip in concentration. _Come on, girl! _cheered a voice in her head. _Be adventurous! Go for it, these guys are all __**over**__ you_! Thanks to newfound resolve, Sakura had a bit more determination. "Come here, Ino," she said, hoping that her voice sounded calm. She was shaking on the inside, but she had to play the part to impress these guys. _No idea why, but I just have to_!

Ino stood next to her, so Sakura stood up. She leaned in closely and brought her tongue to Ino's neck, making the blonde visibly shiver. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Deidara staring at her with this strange look in her eyes. She dared not venture to figure out what it was. Then she sprinkled a bit of salt on Ino's neck and waited.

Ino grinned at her and leaned in to do the same. Just after running her tongue across the side of Sakura's neck, she whispered only loud enough for her best friend to hear. "Doing great; keep it up, you've almost go them." That was when Sakura caught onto Ino's plan – or at least what she thought Ino was planning. She couldn't have been more off, though. Ino sprinkled a little salt on her neck.

The girls lifted their drinks and crossed their arms, downing the glasses quickly. Then they bit into their lime slices and licked the salt off their partner's necks. Several low whistles and cheers from the male audience rang through their ears. When they pulled apart, Ino rubbed her arms, aware that she had goose bumps. Sakura did the same, but Ino knew it was time. Now she just had to play the part.

"Damn… Sakura, I forfeit," she sighed. "You beat me – that last one decided it."

Sakura's eyes widened, but she beamed despite herself. "I won!"

* * *

While Sakura and Temari were talking with Tobi, a guy who arrived late to the party, Ino was watching a very interesting game of pool. Sasuke, Deidara, and Temari's brother, Kankuro, were playing just for the hell of it. She sat there, slowly sipping her ice water and trying to sober up, yet she couldn't help but listen in on their conversations.

It was Kankuro's turn, and while he aimed, Sasuke's dark eyes traveled to Sakura, who was still giddy about beating Ino in that drinking game. He was standing near Deidara, whose eyes were also on Sakura. "She's great, isn't she?" Sasuke said, smiling despite himself. Sakura wasn't great; she was amazing.

"Yeah, she is…" Deidara replied, not completely aware of what was going on around him.

Ino observed the two of them with perceptive teal eyes. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly as small feelings of regret passed through her. Maybe that drinking contest wasn't as good an idea she originally thought. She knew there were a few sparks between Deidara and Sakura, but in her excited, girly, matchmaking mode, she never considered the sparks between Sasuke and Sakura.

"Her birthday's coming up on the 28th," Sasuke said, accepting the chalk from Kankuro. He aimed and made his shot, successfully hitting a striped ball into one of the pockets. "That's when I'm gonna make my move," he said, a grin crossing his lips as he thought about it. "I'm gonna ask her to marry me."

Deidara coughed a few times, setting his drink down. He looked at Sasuke, "You serious, yeah?"

"Yeah," Sasuke said, patting him on the back. He handed Deidara the chalk since it was his turn and continued. "Sakura's amazing; I want to be with her for the rest of my life."

Ino's jaw dropped. _Oh shit_…

Deidara made his shot but missed completely, his mind distracted in more ways than one. He passed the blue chalk to Kankuro and turned back to Sasuke. "Whoa, man, this is a big decision, I mean… You sure about that?"

"Positive," Sasuke replied, looking at Sakura again. She sat there, smiling brightly and perfectly.

"You're gonna be tying yourself down for the rest of your life… yeah. It's a big deal."

Ino bit her lower lip, miserably watching the two of them before her. _Sorry, Temari. I should have taken your advice.._

"Who better to tie myself down with than Sakura?" Sasuke pointed out.

_No kidding_…

* * *

The party ended, and Sakura was more than a little intoxicated from the alcohol. Sasuke walked her out with his arm around her waist, making sure she didn't fall. Deidara unlocked his car, so Sasuke helped Sakura sit down. He looked at Deidara, "Thanks, man. She needs a designated driver."

"Obviously," Deidara said, glancing at Sakura. He sat down in his seat and gripped the steering wheel extra tight when Sasuke kissed Sakura on her forehead, wishing her goodnight. As soon as he closed the door, he put the Trans Am in reverse and headed home.

"That was such a good party!" Sakura squealed with delight. "Don't you think? Those freaky lime things were weird, but it was so cool! I beat Ino!"

"Yeah…" The remainder of the drive back was similar to this. Sakura chatted on and on to her heart's content and Deidara gave half-hearted replies, mostly just 'm-hmm' and 'uh-huh.' He pulled into the driveway and looked at her, "You sure you can walk?"

"I'm _fine_," Sakura said, stepping out of the car rather clumsily. It was a good thing she had discarded her high heels or she would have fallen already. Seeing her struggle, Deidara sighed and walked over to her, putting her arm around his neck. "Dei, I'm fine, I promise… I just-ah!"

"No you're not, yeah," Deidara pointed out, catching her before she tripped again. He rolled his eyes and lifted her up, carrying her to the front door. Sakura fumbled with her keys from her awkward position in Deidara's arms but managed to unlock and open the door. Deidara walked through the doorway, carelessly kicking the door shut. Gently laying Sakura down on the soft couch, he said, "Hang on, I'll get you some water."

Sakura rolled over on her stomach, stretching out comfortably. Deidara came back after about a minute and handed her a glass of ice water. "Thanks, Deidara," she said, gratefully accepting it. "Ugh… I think I had too much to drink."

Deidara grimaced, unable to handle the thought of Sakura vomiting. She seemed to have it under control in that area, though, and just appeared woozy and light-headed. "You need anything… yeah?"

"I'll be okay." Sakura gave him a lopsided grin. "Just stay here," she said, reaching out with her free hand and taking hold of his black coat. She absent-mindedly ran her fingers across the red cloud design, smiling like a giddy schoolgirl. "Sasuke never stays…" she said. "But you always do… stay with me…"

Deidara hesitantly sat down on the floor, facing Sakura. _Don't listen to a word she says, yeah_, he thought. _She's drunk… she's gonna say things she doesn't mean_. Sakura laid on her side, facing him and holding both of his hands in hers. She was playing with his fingers, and as she did so, several images of Sakura and Ino with their limes shot through his mind.

"S…Sakura…"

Sakura looked at him. "Are you feeling all right?" She raised her hand to feel his forehead and said, "You do feel sorta hot. Want to lay down?"

_Oh God yes…_ Deidara shook his head a couple times, trying to get his mind away from the extremely sexually attractive woman who was by all means drunk and right in front of him. "I'm fine… yeah."

"Come on," Sakura said in a teasing voice, tugging him closer to her by his coat. "We slept on this couch together before. If you don't feel good, just lay down. I feel better already!" She tugged a couple more times, and Deidara found his resolve quickly disintegrating. Sakura sat up straight and tried to pull him up on the couch again.

Finally, Deidara sat down by the arm rest, ignoring the traitorous thoughts in his head as he brought Sakura towards him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his chest. Deidara laid back, bringing Sakura with him. _She's engaged… don't do it… He's gonna propose_…

Sakura brought her head up slightly and smiled at him, gently running her left index finger down the side of his face and to his chin. Suddenly, she looked away, blushing and giggling. "I keep wanting to do things to you that are naughty! I think I had too much to drink!" Slowly bringing her gaze back to him, that same, goofy grin crossed her features again as she leaned in closer, steadily but surely.

_Fuck it, she might tell him no_.

Deidara didn't need to think that twice. He gripped Sakura by her shoulders and turned them around so Sakura was on her back on the couch and Deidara was on top of her. She had that same, drunken giggle going on, running her fingers through his hair. Without a second thought, he leaned in and kissed her.

Sakura responded immediately, opening her mouth and granting him full access. At that moment in time, he didn't give a damn that it was just because she was intoxicated. Sakura had occupied his mind and thoughts for _way_ too long. He broke away for a moment and started a trail of kisses down Sakura's jaw to her neck and shoulder blade. It was her own fault for wearing such a revealing, **tiny** dress.

"Deidara…" Sakura whispered in delight, her fingers massaging his shoulders and urging him to continue. Something in the back of her mind, a subconscious urge told her that this was wrong, but it felt so _wonderful_. How could anything that felt that amazing be **wrong**?

Wanting to take control and make _him_ feel the amazing sensations she was, she mimicked his actions and turned them over. However, it had quite the opposite effect; the two of them landed on the floor because the couch was only so big. Thrown into a massive giggling fit, Sakura continued her drunken laughter as she rested her head on Deidara's chest again, her left hand squeezing his shoulder. "S-sorry!" she laughed.

Deidara was suddenly woken up from his trance-like state. _What the hell am I doing, yeah?_ He rose up, helping Sakura get back on the couch. For some reason, he couldn't even bring himself to smile. If Sakura remembered this the next morning, she would be heartbroken.

Deidara took off his coat and put it over Sakura as a blanket. "Get some sleep, chick," he said. Sakura smiled at him and nodded obediently, closing her eyes to fall asleep. Deidara walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table, resting his head in his hands. _Damn it, damn it, damn it_…


	10. The End of Perfection

_**Upside-Down**_

_TK Grimm_

* * *

**Chapter Ten:**

**The End of Perfection**

* * *

Sakura groaned, crossing her arms on the desk to make a pillow for her aching head. "Ow…"

Sasori sighed, looking through one of the desk's drawers to find the bottle of Advil. "This is what happens when you drink," he said as serenely as ever. "I hope you learned your lesson."

"Yeah," Sakura said, rubbing her head miserably. "No more freaky lime things with Ino. I don't remember anything from last night at all…"

Sasori found the bottle and handed Sakura two painkillers. "Now you see why I didn't go." Sakura gratefully accepted the pills and swallowed them with the help of her glass of water. "It'll take about fifteen minutes for them to start working."

"Thanks, Sasori," Sakura said, offering him a weak smile. "You're a life savor." She slumped back in her seat and propped her head up with her hands, her elbows on the desk. "I can't believe Deidara doesn't have a hangover… I could have sworn he had something to drink last night."

"He probably has a higher resistance than you do," Sasori mentioned, putting the bottle away. "Besides… I can't imagine eight drinks of green apple tequila could leave you completely unaffected."

"Good point," Sakura sighed. "Ugh, I feel so… dirty. I took an extra long shower today and then Deidara got pissy because there wasn't any hot water." She put her hands on the desk in a slightly irritated manner. "Kisame better have had a good birthday for all this trouble." Sasori smiled, patting her on the head once and then headed upstairs to the art room.

Sakura opened the file folder for that day and started inputting the data on the computer. It was exceedingly difficult to concentrate with the feeling of leprechauns doing in Irish jig inside her brain. The door opened, causing the little bells to chime. Sakura looked in that direction and saw Hinata walk inside. Sakura managed a smile and stood up, waving her over.

"H-hey, Sakura," Hinata said in her usual quiet tone. "How are you feeling? Ino told me about your drinking thing last night…"

"I'll survive," Sakura said weakly. "What's up, Hinata? Don't you work today?"

"Yes… I took my lunch break early," she explained. "I was going to ask about a painting, but, well, I had a question for you, too…" Sakura tilted her head to the side slightly, waiting for Hinata to continue. "I mean… well, do you know what's happening on your birthday, S-Sakura?"

Sakura shook her head once, "No, I thought you and Ino were planning everything."

"N-no… about Sasuke, do you, um, do you know what he's doing for you?"

"No…" Sakura raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Do _you_?"

"N-no!" Hinata said, panic clear in her voice.

Sakura took a step closer to her, "Hinata, come on… you can tell me. We tell each other everything. Please?"

"I can't!" Hinata backed towards the door. "I-I promised I wouldn't… S-Sakura just… think it over before you make any decisions… okay?"

Sakura gave Hinata a look of confusion, "Decisions? What do you mean?"

"I-it's nothing!" Hinata assured. "Um… I've got to go!"

"Wait, what about the painting?"

"I'll call back later!" Without another word, Hinata hurried out the door, leaving a stunned and confused Sakura just standing there.

She heard steps walking down the stairs and turned to see Deidara coming towards her, looking through a tan folder. "Hey, chick, can you put this in the computer for me? Finally finished that bird upstairs so I can sell it."

"O-oh," Sakura said, accepting the folder. "S-sure thing."

Deidara looked at her strangely for a moment. "You okay, yeah?"

"Err… yeah, I'm fine," Sakura replied. She walked back towards the front desk and sat down, setting Deidara's folder on top of the other one. She glanced at Deidara, seeing he wasn't convinced, and put her hand to her head. "Just still feeling the effects of all that alcohol," she said miserably.

Deidara chuckled lightly and walked over, leaning on the desk as he looked at her. "And whose fault is that?"

"Ino's?" Deidara shook his head, grinning. Sakura sighed, "Mine…" She gave him an accusing look, "How come you're not as miserable as me! You had a lot to drink, too!"

"Not nearly as much as you, yeah," Deidara pointed out. "I'd like to think eight glasses of tequila is a bit more potent than two beers."

Sakura moaned in her misery, begging for her hangover to just _go away_. "You're not helping…"

"Did you take anything?"

"Sasori gave me two Advil," she informed, giving him a pathetic smile. It slowly changed to a goofy expression that made Deidara raise an eyebrow. "I have the strangest feeling I had a dream about you last night, but I can't remember what it was about. I think we were on the couch again and like fell off or something."

Deidara's expression immediately turned into _slight_ panic. He quickly masked it with a nervous laugh, "You sure **love** to dream about me, don't you, yeah?"

Sakura playfully punched him in the arm. "Don't flatter yourself," she teased. That was when she remembered, "Oh, yeah. Hinata stopped by a few minutes ago and mentioned something about my birthday. Do you know if Sasuke's planning to do something? Hinata gave me the whole 'I promised not to tell!' thing."

Deidara frowned slightly but quickly plastered a fake smile on his face. "I'm not exactly Sasuke's buddy, cherry chick. I wouldn't know."

Sakura sighed, "Oh, all right. I guess I'll just have to wait and see."

"Yeah…"

* * *

Deidara closed the door to the art room and leaned his back against it, blue eyes glued to the floor. Sasori looked at him for a while, a hidden suspicion of what was going on, but said nothing of it. The blonde walked over and sat down cross-legged in front of him. "That Uchiha brat is gonna propose to Sakura."

Sasori's face remained completely impassive as he took in this information. "I see. When?"

"On her birthday… yeah."

"Well, I'll have to congratulate her," Sasori said.

Deidara scowled, "How do you know she'll even say yes?"

The slightest of smiles crossed Sasori's lips. "Does she have any reason not to?"

This shut him up for a while. Deidara searched his mind for a reply to that that could make the conversation turn back in his favor, but couldn't come up with anything. After a few more moments of silence, he turned away. "No." Without another word, Deidara returned to his side of the room and started molding clay into something. He didn't know or care what he was making; he just had to do something.

"How are you doing now that you've quit smoking?" Sasori asked casually, making a few new brush strokes with the mountain painting. It was almost complete.

"Surviving," Deidara grumbled. "Sakura's got me on those stupid patch things, yeah."

"Is it working?"

"For the most part," he replied half-heartedly. "I haven't touched a cigarette since."

Sasori looked at him, an unreadable expression on his face. It amazed him to no end how oblivious some people could be of their own feelings and yet insist that they know everything. Without another word, he returned to his painting, again choosing not to interfere.

* * *

"Hey, guys!" Sakura said, sitting down in her usual spot at the café. It was March 26th, a week and a day after Kisame's party. Ino and Hinata greeted her with smiles. Rather than meet for breakfast, they met after work. A waitress soon appeared, taking their orders and heading back to the counter. As they waited, Sakura's mind reflected back on the past week.

She had been spending more time with Sasuke, which was certainly nice. It was difficult at times, too, because she had to constantly ignore the suspicion that he was hiding something. Whatever it was, she could never figure out.

Deidara had been acting stranger lately as well. It didn't bother her at first, but it was getting weird. He seemed a lot more distracted than he used to be, smiling and joking with her a bit less. Whenever she asked him if he was all right, he just smiled and told her not to worry. During their free time, they watched movies on the couch in their usual spots or played pointless little games to pass the time. He was still fun, but something was occupying his mind, Sakura was sure of it. Sakura never found out what it was, though.

Hinata was acting differently, too. Sakura was sure that she and Ino knew something she didn't, but whenever she pressed the issue, Ino denied it and Hinata insisted she couldn't tell after apologizing dozens of times. Every other day, Hinata would talk to her and remind her not to make any rash decisions without thinking about it, but that only served to make Sakura even more curious.

The waitress returned with their drinks, and as they sweetened them, Sakura was the first to speak. "Well, my birthday is this Friday. That's in two days. I want you two to tell me what's going on."

Hinata immediately looked away towards the window so she wouldn't have to make eye-contact. Ino, however, held strong in front of her best friend. Instead of going in denial like she usually did when the topic came up, Ino shrugged. "Exactly. You'll find out in two days. In the meantime, we need to talk."

Sakura accepted that for the moment. Ino's tone of voice suggested that what she needed to talk to her about was important, so Sakura decided that she would mention the birthday thing later. "All right. What's on your mind?"

"How do you feel about Deidara?"

Sakura promptly dropped her sugar package in her coffee. "Damn it," she cursed, getting her spoon and fishing it out. As she tried again to sweeten her drink, she said, "He's a really great friend."

"That's not what I asked," Ino said, her voice showing that she wasn't backing down. "Saying how you feel doesn't count as cheating on Sasuke, so just let it all out. You've been holding it in way too long."

Sakura clenched the sugar packet in her hand tightly, her green eyes glaring at Ino. She counted to ten in her head and resumed her sweetening process, calming herself down. "What do you want to hear?"

"The truth." This time, it wasn't Ino. Beside her, Hinata was looking at her, determination showing through her usually shy pale eyes. "Just say how you feel, Sakura…"

"I care about Deidara…" Sakura said softly, pouring the small amount of sugar from the packet into her coffee. "He's very important to me; I'm at the point where I can't imagine him not being there. Happy now?" She sighed, setting the wrapper in a small pile with the others. "But I can't love him… I can't love Deidara. I love _Sasuke_, not Deidara."

"Are you sure you don't love Deidara?" Ino asked. Her voice wasn't stern; she was just asking a question.

"I can't," Sakura said, slowly stirring her coffee. "Sasuke means so much to me… I can't lose him."

"But what if you lose Deidara?"

* * *

Sakura unlocked the door to her apartment and walked in slowly, hanging up her coat on the rack to her right. Deidara was sitting on the couch, watching some MTV Rock Music Video Countdown. Sakura saw him sitting there, feeling her heart begin to tie itself in knots. She slipped out of her shoes and walked over, sitting next to him in her usual spot.

"Hey, chick," Deidara said in his usual cheerful voice. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and said, "Just in time, yeah. I can continue Operation Brainwash-Sakura-Into-Becoming-A-Rocker."

Sakura chuckled, resting her head on his shoulder. "If you turn me into a rocker, I'm cutting your hair shorter than mine."

Deidara glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, "You wouldn't dare…"

"Yeah, I know," she said in a teasing voice, twirling a few blonde locks around her finger. She frowned slightly, remembering what her friends had talked to her about after work. "Deidara…?"

"Yeah?" Sakura felt her eyes start to water, so she took a deep breath and blinked several times to keep the tears from falling. Deidara saw she was about to cry and immediately set the remote control down, turning to face her. "Hey, whoa, wait a minute, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry," Sakura said immediately. "It's nothing; I-I'm fine." She looked up at him with the most convincing smile she could muster. "Don't worry. If it was serious, I would tell you." He stared at her for a while, contemplating her answer in his mind. Finally, he seemed satisfied and resumed watching the Metallica video on the television.

Sakura took hold of his left hand in both of hers, absent-mindedly playing with his fingers. Deidara vaguely registered what was going on, but didn't say anything. She smiled slightly, running her index finger down his and around his hand, giggling when he shivered. She locked her fingers with his, smiling sadly when he did the same. _I don't want to lose you…_

She felt her heart start to break.

_But I can't lose Sasuke, either_…

* * *

Thursday came and went. Sakura spent Wednesday and Thursday nights crying in her room. Deidara heard her and came in, not bothering to knock. Both times, he hugged her and offered support. He didn't ask what was bothering her or making her cry. Sakura was aware that he didn't know, but all the same, he never asked. He knew she wouldn't tell him. They stayed there for hours until Sakura finally managed to fall asleep. Deidara would put a blanket over her and turn out her light before going to his room and trying to fall asleep himself.

Now it was Friday, and after two nights of barely any sleep, Sakura didn't feel her usual happy self. She looked in the mirror in her room and couldn't even manage a smile. _Come on, Sakura_, she thought. _It's your birthday! Smile!_

There was a soft knock on her door, so Sakura walked over and opened it. Deidara looked down at her; he wasn't smiling either. He was checking on her, making sure she was all right. Neither one of them needed to say anything. Their actions and facial expressions spoke for them. Without warning, Sakura wrapped her arms around Deidara, holding onto him tightly for support. He immediately hugged her back, but still didn't say anything.

Sakura didn't cry. She had been doing enough of that the past two nights for the both of them. Deidara never intruded on her privacy and asked what was wrong, and for that, she was grateful. She couldn't tell him she was crying because she had to choose between him and Sasuke. The thought that helped her pick Sasuke was the fact that Deidara wasn't interested in a relationship with her.

Ino and Hinata constantly told her otherwise; every time they were together, they would tell Sakura just that. And every time, she told them it was impossible and that Deidara deserved better. When she asked about her birthday plans the day before, Ino told her that Sasuke would have her busy all day doing something with him. She said that she and Hinata would celebrate it with her by going out to eat on Saturday instead.

Sakura pulled away at last and finally smiled at Deidara. "Thank you…" she said softly. "You have no idea how much you help me… in everything. I don't know what I'd do without you, Dei."

Deidara hesitated, but nodded after a while. He took her hand and led her down the hall. "Let's get some breakfast, yeah?"

"Okay. What sounds good?"

"You're not gonna _cook_ on your birthday," he said, looking at her like she were crazy. "I'm taking you out for breakfast… yeah."

Sakura chuckled, letting him lead her to the entryway. "All right," she gave in, slipping on her shoes. "Where to?" she asked as she put on her white coat.

"Definitely not a place where you can fall or some other klutzy thing."

"Hey!" The two of them settled on a family-oriented restaurant. To Sakura's delight, Deidara took her to the non-smoking section. Her mind reflected back on the day he had quit smoking; she wondered if her influence in that matter had anything to do with it.

After placing their orders, the two of them looked at each other with similar expressions. Deidara was resting his chin on his hand with his elbow on the table, grinning at her like he usually did. Sakura's hands were in her lap, and she gave him her sweet smile. Finally, Deidara broke the silence, "So… do you want your present now or later, yeah?"

Stopping herself from saying 'now' Sakura instead turned to modesty. "Oh, come on… you didn't have to get me anything…" Deidara raised an eyebrow, silently telling her the act wasn't working, so she shrugged and grinned. "Can I have it now? Please, please, please?"

He chuckled, "Well it **is** your birthday…"

"Uh-huh…" she sang happily.

With a defeated sigh, he said, "Oh, all right, yeah." Deidara reached under the table and brought up a white rectangular box that he set in front of Sakura.

Sakura gave him a quizzical look and then opened it slowly, peeking inside. Her eyes widened, and she quickly took the lid off and set it next to her. From the box, she pulled out a long black trench coat with an all-too-familiar red cloud design. It was the same one Deidara and Sasori had. "Oh, wow!" she exclaimed, running her fingers over the cloud design. "I've always wanted one of these for myself!"

Deidara smirked, "I had a feeling. Anyway, you'd better hope one of your friends gets you a new purse, yeah. You need it."

"Gee thanks," Sakura giggled, even if she knew it was true. She carefully folded the coat back up and set the white box beside her. "Thank you," she said, smiling at him. He returned their smile, and they stayed like that for a while, just gazing into each other's eyes, perfectly comfortable.

* * *

Sakura met Sasuke at their favorite restaurant after work. They picked a booth and sat facing each other. Sakura was smiling happily, excited to maybe find out about this mysterious thing for her birthday. On the other hand, Sasuke seemed to be fidgeting with something. "Are you all right?" Sakura asked with a light chuckle.

"Err… yeah, I'm fine," Sasuke replied, putting both of his hands on the table. "How has your day been so far?"

"Really great!" Sakura said happily. "People kept calling me every few minutes and wishing me a happy birthday!"

"That's great," he said, smiling at her. The waitress stopped by long enough to take their orders before heading to the kitchens. Sasuke looked at his glass of wine, a stoic expression adorning his face. Sakura wanted to ask what was on his mind, but wasn't sure if it was work-related or not. She didn't like to press work issues.

On second thought, perhaps it wouldn't kill her to ask him. "Sasuke? What's up?"

"It's nothing," Sasuke said quickly, returning his midnight blue gaze to her. "Your friends get you anything today besides that coat?" He absent-mindedly gestured to the black trench coat Sakura was wearing.

She blushed slightly but quickly recovered, "Sasori gave me this beautiful mountain painting that I wanted for a long time; it was really nice. Oh, and Temari stopped by to give me this," Sakura showed Sasuke the charm bracelet Temari got her. "I haven't seen Ino and Hinata yet. We're going to lunch tomorrow for my birthday. They did call though."

Sasuke nodded in approval, "I see."

Sakura looked towards the ground, subconsciously wiggling her toes for a moment. She bit her lower lip in concentration, trying to think of something else they could talk about while they waited for their food to get there. Sasuke wasn't exactly an easy conversationalist. "So… how was work?" _You could have done better than __**that,**_ she scolded.

"Manageable," Sasuke replied with ease. "I was able to get the big things done earlier so by the time my shift ended, I could leave without too much fuss. Karin told me to wish you a happy birthday on her behalf as well."

Sakura looked at him with a fake smile plastered on her face. She hoped her tone didn't sound forced, "Oh, that's… nice of her."

"I agree," Sasuke said, seemingly unperturbed by Sakura's tone of voice as he casually took a sip of wine. Their food arrived, and they ate in mostly silence. Every so often, Sakura would bring up a simple topic of conversation, but whatever she could think of would end within minutes.

When their meal was finished, Sakura contemplated on desserts while Sasuke again fidgeted with the small box in his pocket. Sakura looked at his hand from the corner of her eye, wondering what it was he was holding. With a sigh, she set down the dessert menu and looked at him. "Sasuke, are you sure you're all right? You've been… I don't know, distracted all night. And you keep messing with something in your pocket!"

Sasuke masked his emotions quickly and looked into Sakura's eyes, mentally contemplating something. To her utmost surprise, he spontaneously said, "I love you."

Sakura blinked several times before reaching over and gently taking hold of his free hand. "I love you, too; you know that. Sasuke, if there's something bothering you, please tell me what it is."

"There's nothing bothering me," he told her. "Not anymore. Sakura… we've been together for a little over a year now, but that's more than enough time to help me make this decision." Sakura froze; was he doing what she thought he was doing? Before she could contemplate further, he continued.

"We've been through a lot, the two of us. Sure, we don't agree on everything and have our moments, but who doesn't? Sakura, I've never been more sure of anything in my life…" Sakura's eyes widened when Sasuke finally revealed the small black box he had been holding with his other hand. "And… I want us to stay together… forever." He opened the lid, revealing the most expensive, sparkling diamond ring she had ever seen.

Sakura's green eyes were glued to the ring in absolute shock. Her mind didn't register anything else Sasuke said, much less the fact that she had finally found out what Ino and Hinata had been refusing to tell her for the past few days. Her cheeks were tinged with crimson as she brought her trembling left hand up. "I want nothing more… than to stay with you forever…" she managed to whisper.

Sasuke smirked at last, his signature look, and carefully slid the engagement ring on Sakura's left ring finger.

* * *

Ino's teal gaze slowly drifted past Hinata to Deidara. Deidara was sitting on the floor in the art room, molding clay into some lopsided object. She was certain he didn't have a clue – nor a care – as to what he was doing. Hinata was sitting on her knees beside him, watching with a look of admiration. Every so often, she noticed Sasori's amber gaze wander to his partner and then back to his scorpion. However, the room was mostly quiet.

Ino sat down between Deidara and Sasori, leaning back on her hands as she looked towards the ceiling. "I wonder if she'll say yes," she thought out loud. From the corner of her eye, she saw Deidara's thumb accidentally sink into the clay. His facial expression remained impassive; his thoughts were elsewhere.

Hinata tried her hardest to keep a pleasant smile on her face and opted for changing the subject. "I'm glad you guys let us come up here a-after work…"

Ino nodded in agreement, "Yeah, it's neat, really. Seeing all the things you guys do here and stuff."

"It's no problem," Sasori said, carefully detailing the back of the scorpion with a carving knife. He glanced at Ino briefly before returning to his work, "You haven't spoken with Sakura then?"

She shook her head, looking at him. "No, I haven't. I'm expecting a phone call any time now; she always tells Hinata and I everything first."

"To be expected," Sasori replied nonchalantly.

Hinata looked from Ino and Sasori to Deidara, who was trying to fix his mistake with the clay sculpture. He hadn't said anything since they got there, but as she thought on it she didn't expect him to, either. Her pale eyes wandered back to Ino, who was watching Sasori carve into the wooden scorpion as if it were as simple as combing one's hair.

Ino was quiet for a while before she finally asked, "How has she been the last few days?" The question was directed towards Deidara. "We saw her for breakfast a couple times, but for some reason, she feels the need to act strong in front of us."

Deidara's hands stopped for a moment, his gaze staring at the clay before he finally resumed shaping it. "She's been crying," he said after another pause, his usual 'yeah' absent.

Hinata put her hand to her chest, all traces of a smile replaced with a look of sadness. "Why?"

"I didn't ask."

"It should be obvious," Ino said, sitting up straight. She crossed her legs and looked at a particular unfinished painting of the ocean on a canvas towards the back of the room. "She cried out of confusion." There was a pause before she continued, aware that she was the only one who understood. "I've known Sakura since we were four. She thinks she can hide things from me by putting up a strong façade and whatnot, but I know her better than anyone else." Tilting her head to the side, she looked at Deidara, who hesitantly met her gaze. "Sakura cried because she has feelings for both you _and_ Sasuke."

A lot of things happened at the same time after she said that. Hinata's gaze averted to the floor. Deidara's mouth opened, looking at Ino shocked and surprised. Sasori momentarily paused from the scorpion to look at her with a blank expression. To top it off, Ino's phone rang. The ring tone was Kelly Clarkson's 'Breakaway.' She answered it with a simple, "Hey, Forehead! Sap?"

The room was extremely quiet, but Ino had faint traces of a pretend smile on her face. "Oh, he did, did he?" There was a pause. Sakura was presumably speaking. "Yeah, Hinata and I knew about it." Another pause. "Well, what did you say?"

Two seconds later, Ino dropped her phone. When it hit the ground, the back opened, causing the battery to tumble out of it, effectively shutting it off. Her eyes were slightly widened, and her lips were parted.

Words were unnecessary.

* * *

Sakura hastily opened the door to her apartment and shut it. Quickly slipping out of her shoes and hanging up her new coat, she rushed over to the couch and wrapped her arms around Deidara. "He proposed!" she exclaimed, out of breath from haste and excitement.

"Congratulations," Deidara said, trying his hardest to make his tone sound convincing. He kept his blue eyes on the television set, knowing he couldn't handle too much of Sakura, especially that night. From everything that had happened, he knew she would say yes. But now that she actually had, it was still a shock.

Sakura pulled away, noticing three important details. One, Deidara kept his eyes on the TV and didn't even look at her. Two, he didn't hug her back. Three, though she didn't want to sound nitpicking, his tone didn't sound all that happy for her. She sat down next to him but turned to face him, "Deidara, what's going on?"

"Nothing, yeah," he replied, still not looking at her. If there was a list of things he couldn't deal with at that exact moment, Sakura would be at the very top.

Naturally, Sakura was completely confused. Feeling her temper rise slightly, she tried to push it back down but found it difficult to control. Why couldn't he be happy for her? It was her birthday **and now**, she was engaged. Feeling frustrated, she took the remote control from his hand and turned the TV off, dropping the controller on the floor.

Deidara stared at the blank screen for a while before finally turning his eyes towards her. He still didn't smile. He just sat there, waiting for whatever else it was that she wanted to say.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sakura asked, completely bewildered as to why he was acting that way.

"Nothing."

"That's a lie!" He finally turned his head and faced her, his facial expression stoic. When he looked at her that way, it reminded her of when she first saw him after so long in his old apartment. He didn't recognize her then, and looked at her with this look on his face that told he didn't give a damn about _anything_ anymore. "Why can't you be happy for me?" she asked, voicing her previous thoughts.

Deidara's facial expression remained plain and he shrugged. That was the only answer she got: a simple shrug.

"Why won't you say anything? You're acting like you don't even care…" she said, her tone softer as she turned her gaze to the floor. There was a pause, and her green eyes turned back to him, again angry. "You don't give a damn about anything, do you?"

At this, Deidara scowled, clenching the leather on the couch in his fist. "Don't start that with me, Sakura. You have no idea."

"Do I?"

His temper was finally gone. From the look on Sakura's face, hers wouldn't last another comment, either. "That's right! You have no damn idea, so shut your mouth!"

"I come home expecting you to be happy for me on my **birthday** and you can't even do that?" she yelled. "You're acting like a heartless bastard, Deidara! What are you talking about, 'I have no idea' anyway? I say I have idea enough for the both of us, damn it!"

Deidara grabbed her wrists, forcing her to maintain eye-contact. "You think its easy being around you all the time when you're with _him_? You think I **like** seeing you come home excited because you're marrying that bastard?"

Sakura's free hand flew over her open mouth. Unable to think of anything else, she only managed a soft, harsh whisper. "_What_?"

Deidara stood up and walked towards the kitchen, running an agitated hand through his hair. "Damn it…"

Sakura quickly got up and followed him. "What are you talking about?" she demanded.

"Why the hell are you with him, anyway?" Deidara asked, turning around to face her. "He treats you like shit! How many times have you come crying to me because of something _Sasuke's_ done?"

"Who are **you** to criticize my relationship like that? It's none of your goddamned business!"

"Obviously not!" Deidara said bitterly. "I guess you just like being treated like shit. So tell me, **Sakura**, out of curiosity, why _**do**_ you stay with him? I'm sure it's not because he makes you cry every night!"

"Because I love him, damn it!" Sakura retorted, trying her hardest not to cry out of frustration. She slammed her hands on the table for emphasis. "Why the hell do you care, then? What do you care if I cry so much because of him?"

"Because whether you want to believe it or not, **I'm** in love with **you**, Sakura!" There was a quick pause in which Sakura's eyes widened and she stared at Deidara in shock. "**That's** why I didn't want to move in with you! **That's** why I hate it when you cry for him! **THAT** is why it's so _fucking_ hard to be happy for you right now!"

Sakura's hand covered her mouth, two tears finally falling down. This whole time… and she never knew. Her gaze drifted to the engagement ring on her finger for a few seconds. _No… no, I'm in love with Sasuke. Sasuke_. She slowly looked back at Deidara and with a quivering voice said words neither of them wanted to hear.

"I… I think you should leave for a while. You can get your stuff now or tomorrow… but you need to leave."


	11. Picture

_**Upside-Down**_

_TK Grimm_

* * *

_**Chapter Eleven:**_

**Picture**

* * *

Song used: "Picture" Kid Rock & Sheryl Crow

* * *

"_And you haven't talked to her since, right_?"

"Pretty much… yeah," Deidara replied. He was talking to Sasori on the phone from his hotel room. It was quiet for a while. He ran an agitated hand through his hair and sighed.

"_What are you going to do?_"

"Give her space, I guess," he said. Barely an hour had passed since he left Sakura's apartment and rented the last minute hotel room. "What the hell does she see in him, anyway? He's not good enough for her."

Sasori paused. "_It's not your place to make that judgment, Deidara._"

"I _know_," Deidara said, frustration evident.

"_Maybe you should take tomorrow off_."

"Yeah…"

"_Let it go. She's engaged._"

"I _**know**_."

_Living my life in a slow hell  
Different girl every night at the hotel  
I ain't seen the sun shine in 3 damn days_

Deidara started pacing in his hotel room. Three days had passed and not a word from Sakura. The phone only rang twice. Once, he had answered it and no one was there, so he hung up. The second call was Sasori, checking up on him and seeing how he was doing.

_Maybe if I hadn't told her that_, he thought. _Maybe… maybe things would be different_.

He soon realized that nothing would have been different. He would have told her he loved her eventually, it just came out in the rage of emotions three nights before. _Sakura_… Every day it was the same thing. He'd pick up the phone, stare at the number pad, and set it down, unable to call her. A few hours would pass after that and he'd try again. Each time he tried to call her, he changed his mind.

_Been fuelin' up on cocaine and whiskey  
Wish I had a good girl to miss me  
Lord I wonder if I'll ever change my ways_

Deidara rose up slowly in his bed and looked at the window. The curtains were open, giving a pathetically pleasant view of the night sky. _What am I doing_… he thought miserably. _I need to get her out of my head… Damn it, Sakura_…

Why, of all the damned women in the world, did he have to fall for **her**. Sakura was annoying, loud, short-tempered, and she nagged too much to be healthy. Deidara swallowed the lump in his throat as his mind raced around thousands of thoughts of her. But she was also smart, beautiful, spunky, caring, adorable…

He rested his elbow on his knee with his head on his hand. The list went on and on. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get his mind away from Sakura. Why couldn't things go back to the way they used to be? In high school, she was just a cool, amusing girl who he could get a good laugh from. Now, he wanted much, _much_ more than that.

_I put your picture away  
Sat down and cried today  
I can't look at you while I'm lying next to her_

He looked at the photograph placed neatly in a picture frame on his end table. It was the one that they had taken of them together a few weeks before. Both of them were smiling at the camera, happy to be around the other.

Deidara picked up the picture and set it in his lap, looking at both of their faces as they smiled up at him. He found himself wishing he had just thrown the damn thing away. Looking at it every morning only tore him to pieces.

Pushing his thoughts of Sakura to the farthest corners of his mind, at least trying to, he set the picture face down on the end table. He sat there on his bed, ignoring the weight of the woman next to him on the other side. Deidara didn't even remember her name, but he didn't care. It was just another useless attempt to forget Sakura.

_I put your picture away  
Sat down and cried today  
I can't look at you while I'm lying next to her_

Sakura parked her car in her usual spot at work. It was Thursday, so she half-expected Deidara's Trans Am to be in her spot like it usually was. To her disappointment, his car wasn't even in the parking lot. She got out of her car and locked the doors. Her sea foam green eyes landed on the dragon Deidara had painted. She felt a tear slide down her cheek as she ran her fingers partially down its back.

Wiping the teardrop away, she braced herself and walked inside Akatsuki Studios. Sasori was at the desk reading something on the computer. He heard the bells on the door chime, signaling someone entering, and looked at her. Sakura held back more tears and tried to smile at him, but only managed a weak half-smile. He stood up and walked over to her, knowing what she was going to ask.

"Have you talked to him…?" she asked quietly.

"Last night," Sasori said.

"How's he doing?"

He gave her an encouraging smile. "Surviving." Sakura lowered her head, a few more tears escaping. "Don't worry," she heard him say softly before he wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"Thank you," she whispered, mimicking his action and holding onto Sasori tightly. He did so well at playing the older brother she never had. Sakura didn't know what she'd do without Sasori.

_I called you last night in the hotel  
everyone knows but they won't tell  
but their half-hearted smiles tell me somethin' just ain't right_

That evening, Sakura picked up her cell phone. She scrolled down her list of contacts until she landed on Deidara's number. Hesitating, she wondered if he would even answer if she called his cell phone. _Not after what I said to him Friday_… she thought sadly.

She walked into the kitchen and looked at the piece of paper on the table. Sasori had given her the number to Deidara's hotel room. Those phones don't have Caller ID, so he wouldn't know it was her, and he'd answer. She could apologize…

_Deidara_…

Sakura dialed the number and waited for him to answer. "_Hello_?" _What do I say_? she thought, panicking. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. A tear fell down her cheek and landed on the kitchen table. A soft click was heard through the phone line. Deidara had hung up.

The next morning, she met Ino and Hinata in the café for breakfast as always. They saw her expression and didn't bother with a 'how are you' greeting. Seeing Sakura in that state made it obvious. "Have you been crying again?" Ino asked outright.

"No," Sakura lied.

"I don't believe you," she replied. Sakura took her usual seat across from Ino and next to Hinata in the booth. Ino reached across the table and took Sakura's hand, gripping it tightly and reassuringly. "You called him last night… didn't you?"

Sakura looked away towards the floor. She nodded, barely visible, and then looked back at her friends. Both of them were giving her a sad yet comforting smile. Hinata put her hand over Ino's and Sakura's both. "You miss him."

_I've been waiting on you for a long time  
Fuelin' up on heartaches and cheap wine  
I ain't heard from you in 3 damn nights_

Sakura was sitting on her couch next to Sasuke. The two of them were watching 50 First Dates. Sasuke leaned on the arm rest with his other arm around Sakura. Sakura laid against him, trying to watch the movie and thinking about Deidara. She had told Sasuke that he moved out three nights before. When he reacted positively, she got angry. It didn't surprise her that Sasuke was just as angry as she was because he felt threatened by Deidara and the effect he was having on his fiancé.

She took another sip of her glass of wine. Sasuke was still irritated with her about how she had been acting, she could tell. Yet for some reason, Sakura didn't care. Normally, if she sensed Sasuke was upset with her, she would go to extreme lengths to make it up to him just so he would be happy.

Now, the only thought on her mind was Deidara.

_I put your picture away  
I wonder where you've been  
I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to him_

Her eyes wandered to the photograph on the shelf. Between a picture of Sakura and Ino and a picture of Sakura and Hinata, there safely stood a treasured picture of Sakura and Deidara. Both of them were making funny faces at the camera, making her smile sadly at the memory.

In her mind's eye, she could see the other photograph she had. It was in her room on the end table next to her bed. It was the picture of the two of them leaning on the other with their heads together, beautiful smiles facing the camera. _Deidara_…

The movie ended and Sakura stood up first. She walked to the shelf and put the picture of her and Deidara face down. She couldn't look at that photograph… especially not now. Turning around to look at Sasuke, she asked, "Staying here tonight?" She tried hard to keep her voice light, but even with her efforts, it was rather obvious she wasn't really interested either way.

_I put your picture away  
I wonder where you've been  
I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to him_

"No," Sasuke answered regardless. His dark eyes watched her for a moment, studying her. That always bothered Sakura. It was as if Sasuke wouldn't be satisfied unless he knew exactly what was going through her head at all times. _Deidara never does that_…

He got up from the couch and picked up his jacket. "I'll see you tomorrow." Not a kiss, not a hug, not even a 'good night.' Sakura wouldn't have expected anything else from him.

"Okay." Without another word, he was out the door. She looked at the diamond engagement ring on her finger and shook her head in disdain. _Deidara_…

_I saw you yesterday with an old friend  
It was the same old same how have you been  
Since you've been gone my world's been dark and gray_

The next day, Sakura called Sasori and asked if she could have the day off. He knew why, of course, so he didn't bother asking what was wrong. He had called Deidara the day before to ask how he was doing. Needless to say, both of them were falling apart. Sasori told her she could take off as much time as she needed, and she thanked him yet again for always being there for her.

She put on her coat and walked outside. Fresh air was supposed to feel refreshing to people, but even that didn't have an effect on Sakura. Her fridge was getting rather empty, and she realized she couldn't procrastinate going to the grocery store any longer.

As soon as she got there and approached the entrance, two familiar figures emerged. Sakura felt her heart skip a beat. Deidara and Hinata were exiting the grocery store, Hinata holding a couple plastic bags. They both saw her and walked up to her. Hinata was the first to speak, "Hey, Sakura, good to see you. I was just helping Deidara get some last minute stuff; hotel food is awful." She gave her best friend a knowing smile.

Both Deidara and Sakura didn't seem to have registered Hinata's words. How Hinata knew that Sakura was going grocery shopping was beyond her, but then again, the girl was always intuitive. Sakura twiddled her thumbs a moment before asking, "So… how've you been?"

Deidara managed the most convincing smile he could at the moment. "Not bad… yeah. Yourself?"

"Not bad," Sakura nodded, also trying to smile.

_Actually_, they both thought, _I've been miserable since Friday_…

_You reminded me of brighter days  
I hoped you were coming home to stay  
I was headed to church  
I was off to drink you away_

Deidara looked at Sakura, eyes traveling all over her. It was safe to say she had been crying a lot lately. He vaguely wondered if she was crying for him or over Sasuke. Seeing her smile at him, however, made him smile right back. They didn't say anything; they just stood there looking at the other. Both of their minds raced through dozens of memories they shared, wishing to go back to them.

_I want you to come home_, Sakura thought. _Why can't I say that?_ She bit her lip uncomfortably, begging for the words she wanted to say to just come out. She knew there was no doubting it in her mind at this point. She had feelings for Deidara, and if he came back, they would only mess with her feelings for Sasuke. She was getting married… she couldn't be around Deidara.

"Well… I better get going," Sakura said at last. A frown passed over both Deidara and Hinata's faces. "Take care."

"You too," Deidara replied. That was it. He knew that was the end for the two of them, and those deluding thoughts he had before about saving Sakura from Sasuke were now completely gone. He had to occupy his mind. He had to get over her. _I need a drink_, he decided, sighing inwardly.

_I thought about you for a long time  
can't seem to get you off my mind  
I can't understand why we're living like this way_

Sakura sat on her couch, staring at the window. Yuki was sitting on her lap, purring softly. It was as if she knew Sakura was distressed. _Deidara_…

Deidara was sitting on his bed, staring at the window from his hotel room on the third floor. He ran his fingers through his hair again, unable to get Sakura off his mind. _Sakura_…

_Why is this so hard_, Sakura thought, feeling more silent tears fall down her cheeks. _Why can't I just keep loving Sasuke? Why do I have to feel the same way for Deidara, too_?

_I'm sick of thinking about you_, Deidara thought. He stood up and walked to the window, looking down at the parking lot. _And I still can't get you out of my head_…

_I found your picture today  
I swear I'll change my ways  
I just called to say I want you to come back home_

Deidara looked at the end table where the picture he had was still face down. He picked it up and looked at it. Sakura continued smiling at him beautifully. She was so happy in that picture. _I'm sorry_, he thought dejectedly. _Call me… make this go away, yeah. I'll change, I promise_.

As if on cue, his phone rang.

_I found your picture today  
I swear I'll change my ways  
I just called to say I want you to come back home_

Sakura sat on her bed, clutching the picture of herself and Deidara tightly to her. She continued crying and looked at it. She was so happy when she was with him. She was more at ease than she was with Sasuke. She was more comfortable, and that was when she realized she wanted Deidara. The only problem was… she was engaged to Sasuke.

But Sakura couldn't deny it any more. She couldn't hold back her feelings for Deidara. She wanted **him**; she wanted to be with **him**. _I'm so sorry_, she thought sadly. _Please forgive me, Deidara… I promise… I'll change… for you, just like you changed for me_.

She picked up her phone and called his cell. "_Hello_? _Sakura_?" Hearing his voice made her forget about Sasuke, if only for a moment.

"Deidara…" she managed to whisper.

"_What's wrong? Are you all right?_" Sakura smiled despite her tears. He really did love her.

"No," she said honestly. "Come home… please… Deidara… I'm so sorry… Come home…"

_I just called to say I love you  
Come back home_

"_Sakura, are you sure? Don't do this just because you fe-_"

"Deidara, please," Sakura whispered into the phone, her voice almost choking because of her tears. "Come home… I lo-" her voice broke off. Sakura shook her head once to recover. "I need you… Come home…"

There was a pause, but only for a second. "_I'm on my way_."


	12. The Right Decision

_**Upside-Down**_

_TK Grimm_

* * *

**Chapter Twelve:**

**The Right Decision**

* * *

Sakura's black trench coat was draped across her shoulders to keep her warm. She sat on the sidewalk path just outside her front door, waiting for Deidara's car. She swallowed hard, wondering what she was going to say to him. _I'm going to apologize first off…_ she thought. That seemed the best way to start it. She had to tell him she was sorry and make things go back to the way they used to be.

Her green eyes drifted down to her left hand and the slightest smile crossed her lips. She had taken off the diamond engagement ring Sasuke had given her. _I'm going to call the wedding off… I love Deidara… I realize that now_.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw two headlights coming down the street. The car was black – that could only mean that it was Deidara's right? Sakura squinted her eyes to try and see better, but she didn't have to. It pulled into her driveway, and after a few seconds, Deidara stepped out. He closed the door and turned his head slightly, looking at her for a moment.

Sakura didn't even hesitate. She stood up and ran to him as fast as she could. She was barefoot, so her feet hurt when they hit the concrete, but that, among so many other things, didn't make a difference. When she reached him, she wrapped her arms around him tightly and buried her face in his chest. Deidara immediately hugged her back, waiting to hear her speak.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered. "I'm so sorry…" Sakura miserably clung to his coat, the one that matched her own. "I was mistaken… all this time, I was… I was…" Finally managing to look up, she met his gaze, "Not Sasuke… no… Deidara, I…"

Could she say it? Now that the time had come, and she had braced herself for several full minutes waiting on the porch… could she really say that? Could she leave Sasuke behind… for Deidara?

"Sakura-"

"No, wait!" Sakura pleaded, interrupting him. She bit her lip with uncertainty. "Deidara… I know you think I just wanted you to come back… because I feel bad, but that's not true! That's not it, I promise! I…" She tried and tried again to fight back the lump in her throat. "I _need_ you, Deidara… I can't imagine living like this for the rest of my life, where every time we see each other its just a simple 'how have you been' and then we go our separate ways…

"I need _more_ than that," she continued. "Deidara, I need **you**! I need you in my life, I want you to be part of my life!" Deidara's eyes slowly wandered to Sakura's left hand. He visibly tensed when he saw that the engagement ring was no longer on her finger. Slowly, his gaze returned to Sakura's, and he waited for her to finish. "I realize now… I know it took me a long time, and you must be so furious with me or sick of me or something, but… but now I know… Deidara, I _love_ you."

As much as he would have liked to be the mature, controlled adult, Deidara had abandoned these good intentions quite a long time ago, especially now. He took Sakura by her shoulders and turned her around, pinning her against the Trans Am. Gripping her chin in his hand, he brought her lips to his.

Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck, responding immediately. If she had been told freshman year that she would be kissing Deidara, _cocky senior artist Deidara_ of all people, she would have punched that person. Hard. Now, it was all she could think about. The kiss was, for lack of a better word, demanding. The hand that had previously taken hold of her chin slowly moved to her neck, holding gently yet firmly at the same time. Sakura couldn't help but run her fingers through his hair.

Both of them were in such a trancelike state, they didn't notice the porch lights come on at the apartment next door until a, "HOLY SHIT!" rang through their ears.

"Damn it," Deidara cursed, looking towards the other house to see Hidan grinning at him with his arms folded across his chest.

Sakura turned her head slightly and her eyes widened. She recognized him from Kisame's party, but couldn't place his name. Regardless, it appeared Deidara was sending him a death glare, but Hidan didn't seem too bothered. "That party wasn't enough for you, huh, you sly bastard," Hidan smirked.

Deidara rolled his eyes, "Point being? …Yeah."

Hidan shrugged as he laughed, "Fuck that – just don't let Itachi's bro find out or he'll be _pissed_." Without another word, he proceeded with taking out the trash. It was probably the reason he left the apartment in the first place.

Sakura saw another figure in the window, but as soon as she squinted her eyes for a better look, the person closed the shades. "Kakuzu," Deidara said, seeing where Sakura's eyes had wandered.

She replied with a barely audible, "Oh," and watched Hidan go back into his apartment, giving Deidara one last 'thumbs-up' sign. Before he could come out with some sarcastic comment, Sakura took his hand and led him back to their own apartment. She gave him a quick smile and reached for the door. When she turned it and it didn't open, her eyes widened upon realization. "Uh-oh…"

There was a pause that lasted about three seconds before Deidara burst out laughing. Sakura had literally locked herself out of her apartment. "WOW," he said enthusiastically as he fished his keys out of his pocket. He was still laughing as they walked in, closing the door behind them.

"Oh will you stop laughing!" Sakura said, blushing furiously. She put her hands on her hips for emphasis to her mood and tried her hardest to glare at him.

Deidara quickly sank to his knees, holding his hands in laughter. Sakura finally caught on that the more flustered or temperamental she acted, the funnier it was to him. She at last gave in to her own giggles and pulled Deidara up by his arm. "You jerk…" she mumbled, smiling despite herself.

Deidara looked up at her for a moment, laughter replaced with this goofy grin that Sakura raised an eyebrow to. There was a pause for a few seconds until he took hold of her hand and pulled her down on top of him. He turned her over so he was on top and kissed her again like he had before.

As he pulled away and started making a trail down her chin and neck, Sakura couldn't help but giggle, "You like… strange places, Dei. Y-your c-c-car," she shuddered when she felt his hands slide down her body. "The… the f-floor…"

Deidara finally moved back to her lips and said something along the lines of, "A bit… flustered… tonight… yeah?"

Sakura grinned and took hold of him switching their positions so _she_ was on top and in control again. She leaned in and whispered, "Only a little."

* * *

Sasori glanced at her with a raised eyebrow for a moment before returning his gaze to the chess game in front of them. "It's possible."

Ino smirked as she finally made her move, using the queen as an offensive to attack another of Sasori's pawns. "I agree. It's… an interesting concept."

"What brought it to your attention?" he asked quietly, studying the board with perceptive amber eyes. Ino was doing well on offense, but as such, she kept her defenses down. He could end the match quickly enough if he put effort into a strategy.

"Hinata, actually," Ino said with perfected ease. "Earlier today, she and Deidara ran into Sakura in the parking lot. I heard it was… _full_ of sparks."

He was quiet for a moment, the slightest of smiles revealing itself. "You certainly love to gossip, don't you?"

"Naturally," Ino replied.

"Naturally," Sasori repeated, looking at her again. He returned his gaze to the board and changed the positions of the castle and the king.

"I didn't know you could do that," Ino said suddenly, staring at the board.

"As long as you haven't moved the pieces beforehand," Sasori told her. "If there's nothing between them, you can turn them around like that, creating a defensive shield around the king."

Ino looked at it for a long time, teal eyes gazing at the protected pieces. After several minutes, she finally said, "There's a negative effect of that move, though."

Sasori looked at her with interest, curious to see if she really had figured it out after seeing it only once. "Oh?"

"Yes," Ino nodded, looking up to meet his gaze. She pointed at the pawns in front of the king, "Now the king is backed into a corner. An offensive player would call that a trap."

"Perhaps."

Ino looked at him with an inquisitive expression. "You know, talking to you is just like playing this game."

"How so?" Sasori asked, using every ounce of willpower to hide the amused smile.

"You're always thinking six moves ahead," she said rather irritably. "I don't know how you do it. I can't even manage that in this _game_."

"Clearly," Sasori mused, looking at the untactful positions of her pieces.

"Hey!"

Sasori put his hands up defensively, "Nothing, nothing. Go ahead, Ino; it's your turn."

Ino eyed him for a moment before looking at the board, wondering how best to use Sasori's castling move to her advantage. She was an offensive player, so she could use it like a trap. For what it was worth, he had practically cornered his own king. Taking the opportunity, she passed the bishop along a diagonal set of black squares until it neared the king. "Check."

Sasori didn't take his eyes off her as he effortlessly moved the king over one square, leaving it dead in the corner of the board. Ino returned his gaze, trying to find out if he was planning any secret moves. There's no way he'd let her win so easily… right? _Nah_…

"You know," Ino said, bringing up conversation. "It wouldn't surprise me if Deidara was at her place right now."

"Again with the gossip?" Sasori asked, obviously finding his company entertaining.

Ino shrugged, playing the part, "I'm female."

"Clearly."

Ino's eye twitched for a moment, "I _do_ hope that's a compliment."

Sasori couldn't help but grin, "Take it how you like."

"Again with the thinking six moves ahead," she scoffed, forcing herself to look away and back towards the board. She studied her pieces and prepared an attacking strategy again. _If I use the queen, he can capture it with that knight. Damn…_ "Regardless," Ino said in a tone that stated she wasn't worried about anything at the moment, "I will admit I hope he's over there."

"Oh?" Well now, wasn't this interesting.

"Yes, actually," Ino informed, meeting his gaze once again. Her move would have to wait – besides, she needed more time to plan her attack. "Deidara would be much better for her than Sasuke."

Sasori nodded slightly, listening attentively. He looked at the board again, predicting Ino's moves with ease and planning his own. "Though I'm wondering if you're saying this as the perceptive woman with Sakura's best interest at heart… or the girl who chased after Sasuke in her freshman year."

Ino didn't even flinch. "Oh, I can assure you; that was a 'young and stupid' thing for sure. Sasuke does nothing for me anymore." She casually moved a pawn forward another step to where she would have moved the queen. Then she waited for the knight that caused her the hesitation to take the pawn.

"Check."

Ino's jaw dropped. Her teal eyes drifted back to her king and saw it a few squares from Sasori's white-square bishop. If she moved to the right, his rook could get her. With an annoyed expression, she moved the king a square to the left.

"As I was saying," she continued. "As the best friends in this situation, you and I can get a lot done here… for the benefit of the others, of course."

"Oh really?" Sasori couldn't help but ask. Toying with people was such a rare treat; he had to enjoy it while it lasted. He moved the rook up four squares. "Check."

Ino clenched her left fist for a moment before relaxing. She moved the king up a square. "_Anyway_, yes, really. We can… help pair them up."

"Because that's something I **do** in my spare time," Sasori said, tinges of sarcasm evident.

"It's something I do," Ino shrugged. "When you have a job like mine, you need entertaining little things like that."

Sasori didn't miss a beat. "Things like asking your best friend's boss out on a date."

A slightly pink hue passed over Ino's cheeks, so she quickly looked away, "Hey, hey, low blow!" She calmed herself down in a few quick seconds and returned her gaze to the board. Sasori still hadn't made his move, so she took the time to study it and make a plan. He was closing in on her like she was him, so she had to attack **now**.

"So what do you intend to do?" he asked, slightly curious. "That is, besides ruin your best friend's wedding."

Ino sighed, slumping in her already slouched position on the floor. "You make everything sound so _bad_."

"And _you_ try to sugarcoat it."

Ino laid down on her stomach, propping her head up with her hand, her elbow on the carpeted floor. "I'll say it again, always thinking six moves ahead. Either tell me how you do that or stop, because that's just not fair."

Sasori raised an eyebrow, "It bothers you? I'm actually having fun."

"_Clearly_," Ino said, repeating the word Sasori had used with her own touch of sarcasm.

He paused for a moment to look at the board. Let's see… he could defeat her now, or he could toy with her for a bit more. Definitely the second option. Sasori casually used his other bishop to move to a position near Ino's queen, a slightly threatening move. "So tell me, Ino," he said. "Do you really intend to get Sakura to cheat on her fiancé?"

"Anything sounds bad when you say it with that attitude," Ino frowned.

"That _wording_," Sasori corrected. "The attitude is nonchalant, though technically, that's bothering you more than the wording at the moment."

Ino glared at him, "You know, it wouldn't kill you to dumb your game down a bit."

"It wouldn't kill me," Sasori agreed. "But it would take away a lot of the fun."

"And we can't have _that_ can we?"

"Clearly," he grinned.

"Hey, Sasori, are you single?"

For the first time that night, he was caught by surprise, though the emotion merely flashed across his eyes and drifted away, again masked by a blank expression. "You're not going to ask me out again, are you?"

Ino put her hands on the floor and glared at him again, "I'm not **that** bad!"

"Oh, no, of _course _not," Sasori said, waving his hand once in dismissal. "Do forgive the insinuation."

"You must have a lot of fun talking to Deidara," Ino couldn't help but giggle. "Using all of those intelligent words on his poor little blonde head."

"As true as that statement is, you're just as blonde… technically," he added quickly. "But yes, the bewildered expression never gets old."

"I bet," Ino said, feeling slightly irritated at the 'blonde' comment, even if she _had_ walked right into it. She took this time to capture the bishop with her queen, just as Sasori had expected. "What a waste," she sighed. "These are handy pieces."

"I suppose they are."

Ino shrugged and added the piece to her collection of captives, mentally noting that Sasori was still watching her. She was beginning to catch on that he was toying with her, but didn't say anything on it. "Do you think Sakura will still choose Sasuke? Even now?"

Sasori paused for a moment, reading Ino's expression and choosing the best way to answer. "She's getting married in a couple weeks."

"I know, I know… on the thirteenth," Ino sighed, averting her gaze for a moment. Ino looked at Sasori again, admiring his absolutely perfect angelic features. His amber eyes were on the chess board, but it made it easier that she didn't necessarily have to deal with eye-contact as she watched him. She sat up slowly, slyly changing positions so she was closer to him. "You know… it wouldn't be as bad as you think if you went on a date with me."

Perfectly timed, Sasori moved the queen to block the king yet again. "Checkmate."

Ino sighed, sinking to the ground again. "Ouch."

"I'm free Sunday."

Shocked teal blue eyes looked up at him. She blinked several times before asking, "R-really?" Ino quickly sat up again and regained her composure, "Oh, of course! Sunday's great!" There was a short pause before she asked, "No more mind games, right?"

Sasori gave her what could only be identified as a mischievous grin. "Only a little."

* * *

Sakura continued the kiss that Deidara had started, slowly moving her hands over his shoulders to help slide off his coat. Deidara had already removed the ribbon in Sakura's hair, letting the perfectly combed pink locks rest freely against the sides of her face. Sakura pulled away just a moment for air, but it was long enough for Deidara to regain the dominating position and turn her over on her back.

"Ow!" she exclaimed suddenly, reaching underneath her. She pulled out her flip flop shoe that had been left behind earlier that day. "Rolled over on a shoe," she chuckled.

Deidara rolled his eyes in amusement, putting his hands under Sakura and helping her lift herself off the ground. They both stood up, regaining their senses. Sakura's hands rested gently on his chest, her green eyes sparkling with delight. Deidara couldn't help but grin at her; she could elicit that expression without even trying.

Suddenly, the song 'Temperature' echoed through the kitchen, easily heard from the entryway, which was part of the same room. Deidara's face turned from the cheeky grin to a dull void, blocking out everything except a slight scowl. Sakura gave him an apologetic smile and walked to the kitchen table, picking up her phone. It was Sasuke, just as the ring tone had revealed.

_Do I answer it…?_ she thought. Sakura had never once hesitated to answer the phone if it was Sasuke. That was when a few other things crossed her mind. She was engaged, whether she wore the ring or not. She was engaged to the man she was in love with for years… and here she was, kissing Deidara just moments before.

Sakura's hands trembled. The ringer slowly ended, signaling she had missed the call. She looked at it for a moment, completely ashamed with herself. She had never cheated on anyone before, and always thought of the simple _idea_ of cheating on someone despicable. And yet… what had she just done?

She couldn't help but tense when she felt Deidara's hands rest on her shoulders, his chin on top of her head. "Sakura… this has to stop, yeah…"

Sakura turned around and looked at him, shocked. Of all the things she expected him to say, that wasn't one of them. "Deidara…?"

He managed to give her a half smile, tilting his head slightly. "You're getting married, yeah? Don't let this little crush on me get in the way. You have to do the right thing."

Her lips parted slightly in surprise. "But, Dei, I-"

Deidara shook his head once, still offering a weak smile. "This isn't what you want. You don't belong with me… you belong with _him_… yeah." He pulled her into a tight hug, ignoring the traitorous voice in his head that told him to change his mind. For once, he was going to do the right thing. For once, he was going to be the mature one… the adult.

Gently running his fingers through her hair, he said, "I know you don't love me… and that's fine. Sakura, you need to be with someone you love… yeah. Sure, that rich brat isn't the greatest, but you wouldn't love him if you didn't see anything in him." Deidara pulled away slowly and took hold of Sakura's chin, tilting it upward so Sakura met his gaze. "I want you to be happy."

"But what if I'm-"

"-And I know you'll be happier with him."


	13. The Wedding

_**Upside-Down**_

_TK Grimm_

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen:**

**The Wedding**

* * *

"_He said WHAT_?"

Sakura cringed at the sound of Ino's voice though her cell phone. "He said I should be with the one I love… and that person is Sasuke…"

"_Even after you told him you loved HIM_?"

"Yes…"

Ino was quiet for a while. She knew her screaming wasn't going to help the situation. Sakura's voice sounded broken enough as it was. In all honesty, she didn't know what to say. But she had an idea of what to **do**. With a flimsy excuse to get off the phone, Ino hung up and put on her shoes. Taking a light jacket with her, she got in her Neon and drove towards Akatsuki Studios.

Sure, she had to take care of Vollenden, but Ino knew Hinata would take care of most of the stuff while she was gone. Besides… this was top priority! _I know it's not right to meddle with other people's business… but I can't help it! This is a mission of love_!

Stopping at a red light, Ino reached for her cell phone. Temari was calling her. "Yo," Ino greeted, waiting for the light to turn green.

"_Hey, Hinata just called_," Temari said. "_What are you doing leaving work so early_?"

"I'm on a mission," Ino replied nonchalantly.

There was a pause. "_This better not have to do with Deidara and Sakura._"

"So what if it – oh my God." Ino froze, her eyes widening in shock and horror. Sasuke's Lamborghini was behind her.

"_What_?" Temari asked, sounding slightly panicked. "_Ino, what's going on? Tell me what-_"

In the passenger seat was Sakura's worst enemy. Karin, the woman Ino insulted as a part time job. "S…Sas…suke…" was all she could say.

"_Sasuke what? Ino, what the hell is going on_?"

"K…Ka…" Ino promptly dropped the phone when the black haired woman next to Sasuke leaned over and kissed him.

"_Ino? Ino? INO?_"

The light turned green. Ino was still staring at her rear view mirror, mouth open in shock. She jumped when the horn of the Lamborghini behind her rang through her ears. Sasuke clearly didn't recognize her car. Without another word, she grabbed her cell phone off the floor mat and floored the gas.

"_Ino are you all right? What happened? Ino?_"

"I'm fine," Ino said, hand trembling as she held onto the phone, her other holding the steering wheel in a deadly grip. "T-Temari…"

"_What, what's going on?_"

"I think Sasuke is cheating on Sakura."

"_You __**WHAT**_?"

Ino breathed in and out slowly and heavily. She was still in shock, surprised by it. "Oh my God… oh my God…" Shaking her head a couple times, she pulled into the parking lot of Akatsuki studios. "Temari, I'll call you later. I have to tell Sakura."

"_Wait, Ino, what hap-_"

With a barely audible apology, Ino hung up on Temari and practically jumped out of her car. She closed the door and ran to the front door of the art studio. The bells chimed as she opened it, her teal eyes frantically searching around. Sasori and Sakura were at the front desk, looking at the contents of a file folder while Deidara was going through other folders in a filing cabinet.

"Sakura!" Ino shrieked, sprinting forward.

Sakura tilted her head to the side. "Ino? Shouldn't you be at-"

"Not important!" Ino paused a moment to catch her breath, holding onto the front desk for support. "Your wedding," she panted. "Call it off!"

"What, why?" Sakura asked, standing up out of her chair. "Ino, what's wrong with you? What happened?"

"Sasuke," Ino breathed. "K… Karin…"

Sakura froze. Deidara's blue eyes slowly drifted from the filing cabinet drawer to a breathless Ino. After a short moment, Sakura found her voice. "W…what are you talking about…"

"I _**saw**_ them," Ino panicked. "I was on my way here," she took a moment to breathe, "and Sasuke's car pulled up behind me at a red light."

"Did he see you…?" Sakura asked quietly.

"No, he doesn't know what I drive apparently," Ino told her, holding her chest for breathing support. "Karin, that witch, oh that evil slut, I saw her kiss him, I really saw it!"

It was quiet for a long time. Deidara and Sasori were both staring at Ino in what appeared to be disbelief. Sakura's hands were trembling, lips slightly parted. Finally, she managed to say, "You're… you're lying…"

This made Ino angry. She was already furious with Sasuke and Karin, but now she was at her limit and snapped. "You won't even believe your best friend, Sakura? Fine. Call him. Ask just _**what**_ he's up to." Ino turned around and sat down in one of the chairs across from the front desk. From her expression, she, too, appeared to still be in slight shock.

Sakura stayed there, frozen, for what felt like several minutes. As she slowly reached a shaking hand to her phone, Ino came to her resolve. It wasn't by chance that she had gone to Akatsuki Studios that day at that moment in time. It couldn't be coincidence. It had to have been fate. And it was about time.

Sakura scrolled down her contacts list slowly until she reached 'S.' Pushing her thumb on the call button, she hesitantly brought the phone to her ear. It rang three times before Sasuke finally answered, "_Hey, Sakura. Aren't you at work?_"

"Y-yes…" Sakura said softly, putting her cell on speakerphone. "Sasuke… where are you?"

There was a pause. "_I'm out driving_."

With hesitation, Sakura asked, "Shouldn't… you be at… work?"

"_Not right now; I'm on a break_."

"With… with who? I mean… are you alone…?"

Another pause. "_No, Karin's here_."

Ino put her hands on her lap, giving Sakura a glare that said 'I told you so.' Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't form any of her thoughts into words. After a few inaudible sounds, she finally asked, "What… is she doing there?"

This pause was shorter than the others. "_Nothing to get jealous over_," he said. "_She just decided to tag along_."

"Sasuke… where are you?"

Another longer pause. "_Sorry, babe, I can't visit this time. Have to get back to work soon_." A muffled sound of a more female voice came though. There was a chance Sasuke had covered the mouthpiece so what Karin said exactly went unheard. "_I'll call you later, okay? Bye_."

"B…" Sakura heard the 'call ended' ding on her phone before she could even finish the word 'bye.' She looked at the phone for a long time, blinking several times. After a few minutes of silence, she sat back down in her chair. Without making eye contact with anyone, she said, "You can go now… Ino."

Ino stood up wearily, looking at Sakura with a puzzled expression. "Sakura…?"

"You were mistaken," Sakura said softly. "But thank you for your concern."

Deidara watched her for a long time, a rather emotionless look on his face. After about a minute, he turned back to the filing cabinet and continued what he was doing. Sasori paused as well, eyes wandering between the three of them. Ino met his gaze and gave him a look that said, 'What do I do?'

Sasori slowly shook his head once, offered a weak smile, and walked upstairs to the art room. Ino averted her gaze to the floor. "So you don't believe me… even now."

Sakura remained silent, staring at a blank computer screen.

Ino looked at her with a slightly broken expression. "Remember… when we were kids? And… I gave you that red hair ribbon…?"

Sakura still didn't say anything.

"We promised to stay friends forever… that no one would come between us. Even one day… when we got married and everything, we would still be the best of friends. We promised… to trust each other, and to always be there for the other. Well… I kept my promise."

Ino walked towards the door, turning back once to smile at Deidara. He returned her gaze and offered a half smile in return. Without another word, Ino walked out of the studio and headed back to Vollenden. When Deidara looked back at Sakura, he saw another tear and slowly come down her cheek.

Why didn't she believe Ino? Was Sakura really that blind?

* * *

Days passed. Sakura's blind faith in Sasuke remained perfectly intact, even if her smile didn't. The signs of Sasuke's affair started to show themselves even more. Sakura still didn't do anything about it. Especially after talking to her parents.

"I always knew you'd marry a handsome, wealthy man," her mother said proudly, looking at Sakura with a far-off look in her eyes.

"You really have made us proud, Sakura," her father said.

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, tilting her head to the side. "But… shouldn't I marry for love?"

Her mother paused, "Well, yes…"

Ino hadn't spoken with Sakura since that day in Akatsuki Studios. Sakura knew she had to put forth the effort to speak to her, especially since she was her maid of honor. It was just difficult. Ino wasn't always an easy person to talk to, and as Sakura came to the realization, she knew she had hurt her best friend with her lack of faith. It just wasn't the easiest thing to believe… that your fiancé was cheating on you.

Now that she thought about it, Sakura had barely spoken with Deidara as well. They were living together again, but it wasn't anywhere near the way it used to be. He either stayed in the garage or his room, sometimes going out with the next door neighbors Hidan and Kakuzu.

Whenever they did talk, it was short and to the point. Never hostile… just never as caring and fun as it used to be. Sakura no longer cried at night, either. She kept up a strong façade, always telling herself, 'Sasuke is wonderful. He would never do that to me.'

Sakura skipped her own bachelorette party. Hinata had planned to take Ino and Sakura to Temari's new club opening night so they could make up and have a good time. Sakura said she'd meet them there, but she ended up not going at all. An hour passed, and when she didn't show up, Hinata gave up.

Ino caught onto Hinata's plan though, and thanked her for her efforts. Opening night for the Elixur was going great, so she knew she could leave early and not have to worry about anything. Saying a quick goodbye to Temari, she walked towards the exit.

It was Friday, April 11th. Sakura's wedding was the upcoming Sunday. Ino braced herself as she drove towards Sakura's apartment, knowing this was her last chance. She pulled in the driveway to see Deidara leaving the front door. He saw her pull up and put his keys away, rather than locking it.

Ino stepped out of her car, closing the door with her eyes on Deidara. "Heading out again?" she asked needlessly.

"Yeah." He paused for a moment, "Have you seen them together again?"

"Sasuke and Karin?" Ino asked. Deidara nodded, and Ino shook her head once. "He might have caught on, especially since Sakura's been different the past week." She grinned at him, "All I know is, he better hope you don't find him anytime soon. He might not look so pretty for his wedding."

Deidara couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the thought. "Don't tempt me, yeah?"

Ino laughed, "Yeah, I know. I'll see you later."

"Yeah." Deidara got in his car and backed out of the driveway. Ino waved goodbye once and then headed towards the front door. Maybe it was a good thing Deidara didn't lock it. She had the slightest suspicion Sakura wouldn't have opened it for her.

She walked inside, closing the door behind her. Sakura was on the couch watching a Aerosmith music video. Ino tilted her head to the side with an amused grin, "Since when do you listen to Aerosmith?"

Sakura slowly turned her head to see her. "Ino…?"

"Hey."

"…Hey…"

Ino walked over to the couch and sat down next to her, looking at the video. "Hey, this is a pretty good song. What's it called?"

"'I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing.' …It came on a few seconds after Deidara left." Sakura was staring at the television, but she wasn't really watching the pictures. She was just listening to the song with her mind elsewhere.

"It's romantic, isn't it?" Ino mentioned. "A love song… what are they called… power ballads, or something like that."

"That's right," Sakura nodded. She turned her gaze back to Ino with a sad smile. "You want to know something sort of funny?"

Ino returned her look and said, "Sure."

"Deidara set his own personal ring tone on my phone… and I hadn't heard it until a couple days ago." Sakura slowly picked up her phone off the armrest on the couch and looked through her contacts until she found Deidara. She went to options and played the song.

_If I die tomorrow  
As the memories fade away  
I can't remember  
Have I said all I can say  
You're my everything  
You make me feel so alive  
If I die tomorrow_

"Wow, that's a really pretty song," Ino said softly. "I almost expected something that would be really, really loud."

"So did I," Sakura said, smiling slightly. "The whole time… and I never knew until it was too late. I looked up the full version of the song on my laptop, the one I use for class. It's called 'If I Die Tomorrow' by Mötley Crüe. That's one of his favorite bands."

Ino nodded once, smiling sadly. "You know… it's not too late. It never is…"

Sakura slowly shook her head. "It's too late for me, Ino." She slowly leaned her had back on the couch and looked towards the ceiling. "To think… I've always been jealous of Karin. I always had a fear that if I was anything less than perfect for Sasuke, he would leave me for her. That's why I was so afraid when he found out I couldn't have kids…"

Ino mimicked her pose, looking towards the ceiling as well as the Aerosmith song continued to play. Sakura paused before continuing, "I can't be angry with Sasuke for cheating on me. I cheated on him…"

Now, Ino rose up facing Sakura. "A couple kisses doesn't exactly balance it out."

"Two wrongs don't make a right."

"Are you saying you finally believe that he's cheating on you, and you're going to just **let him do it**?"

Sakura's eyes turned towards Ino, "I am."

"What about Deidara?"

"He's moved on."

"If you believe that, then you're the same, stupid, insecure little sheepdog I met all those years ago," Ino said, feeling her temper rise. She stood up from the couch, glaring at Sakura. "I guess you'll never blossom into a flower after all."

"Make your dramatic scene," Sakura said without a care, shifting positions so she was lying down on the couch. "It's too late for me."

Ino shook her head in disgust. "I can't believe you. You know what, I give up. Deidara deserves better, anyway."

That was it. Ino walked out the door. The moment she closed the front door behind her marked the end. Even Ino had given up now. All that remained was the wedding.

* * *

Sunday, April 13th. Sakura stood near a window in one of the basement rooms of the church she was to be wedded in. Her mother was fussing over her white gown, making sure everything was absolutely perfect. Sakura looked at her with a smile, "Its okay, mom…"

"Y-you look… amazing, Sakura!" Hinata said happily. She looked in the mirror and resumed trying to tie the ribbon behind her back on her dress.

Sakura shook her head, "Here, Hinata, let me help." She walked over to her friend and tied a bow for Hinata's pretty light blue dress. "Have to help out my bridesmaids, right?"

"Right," Hinata agreed.

"Okay, let me take a picture!" Sakura's mother exclaimed, taking her camera from her purse. Sakura stood in the middle with Temari and Hinata on either side of her. With a slightly forced smile, Sakura managed to get through the picture in one piece.

As Hinata and Temari continued getting ready, Sakura deemed herself complete and stood near the window again, looking out at the sky. _Even now… I regret. Even now, I wonder if I'm doing the right thing_… Her mind bypassed the Sasuke topic for a moment to think about Ino. She hadn't spoken with her best friend since Friday, and that hadn't turned out well at all.

Sakura wondered if Ino was even coming to the wedding. Maybe she was still mad at her… so much so she wouldn't even show up on Sakura's wedding day. _No… even Ino wouldn't do something like that_. Ino had made her point; that was clear. Thanks to her, Sakura was forced to search her heart for traces of love she still **had** for Sasuke.

Her mother didn't help the situation. Always telling her how wonderful Sasuke was and how Sakura made the perfect choice in spouses… that wasn't what Sakura wanted to hear. It didn't help that parents were somewhat required to be supportive of their children regardless. What made it worse was that her parents were mainly proud that Sakura 'bagged herself a rich one.'

She vaguely wondered what her mother would say if she knew Sakura had cheated on Sasuke, even if it was just a few kisses. Then again, Sakura never told anyone but Ino that she knew Sasuke had cheated on _her_ as well. A part of her wondered if Karin was going to her wedding. The other part lacked the will to care.

After all this time, the thought that kept coming back was a 'what if.' What if things had been different? What if Sakura had ended up with Deidara after all? She imagined herself in several different scenarios with the artist. In her mind's eye, she could see it all perfectly clearly.

So it was true then. After all this time, Sakura still loved Deidara after all. The question was… did she love Sasuke?

Regardless, it was too late to think about any of that. Sasuke could give her the perfect life, everything she ever dreamed of and then some. Her parents would be proud of her, and her childhood dream of being with him would be fulfilled.

But oh, how this fallen artist had turned her world upside-down.

A proverb of 'better to have loved and lost than to never love at all' passed through her mind and she settled on these thoughts. Sakura accepted her marriage with Sasuke. Even if she didn't love him, she would accept it and go through with it. Her time with Deidara was over, after all.

Well… it was fun while it lasted.

"Sakura?" her mother asked, bringing her out of her thoughts. "It's time, dear."

Sakura nodded, looking around the room. Hinata and Temari were already gone. Ino never had shown up, after all. She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised, but it did catch her off-guard… even if just a little bit.

She followed her mother to the main doors of the church that led to the aisle. They were closed, and Sakura stayed off to the side. Her father was waiting there, ready to give her away. He smiled and hugged her, "You look beautiful."

"Thanks, daddy," she replied. When a parent tells their child they are proud of them, the child will always be happy, regardless of circumstances and whether or not they show it. Her mother headed down the aisle and took her seat. The music started, so Sakura locked arms with her father, waiting for the doors in front of them to open.

Slowly, the double doors made way for the two of them to enter. Sasuke's family and friends were on the right side, Sakura's left, and her family and friends were on the left, to her right.

Everyone was staring at Sakura in awe, several had even stood up for a better look. Her long white dress was sleeveless at the top, coming up and tying around her neck. Her veil was petite but enough, beautiful pink hair done in a fancy up-do.

_Smile_, she thought desperately. _Smile, damn it… it's your wedding day. You __**have**__ to smile, why can't you do that_? As hard as she tried, Sakura couldn't force a smile on her face. She could feel it kept coming out lopsided or too obviously forced.

Looking to her right out of coincidence, she saw Ino. Ino was standing near Sasori, and despite their previous fights, she looked at her best friend with an encouraging smile. _She really came after all_… Ino was in her maid of honor dress, but not standing with the others. Regardless, it was important that she came.

Sakura's eyes drifted to the seat next to her… and she saw him. Deidara was looking straight ahead for a moment, but after about a second, he slowly tilted his head to the side, meeting Sakura's gaze. He smiled at her, winking once and silently wishing her luck.

Even as Sakura felt her heart rip apart, she couldn't help but somehow smile back. That was part of Deidara's magic. He could get someone to smile with just the simplest look, especially Sakura. Before she could think more of it, they had reached the end of the aisle.

Forcing her muscles in overdrive, Sakura kept the smile plastered on her face, hoping it would suffice. As Sakura looked in Sasuke's eyes, she could still see no traces of emotion. Even now, on their wedding day, he locked himself inside. Even now… he refused to put his guard down. Perhaps he never would.

The priest officiating looked between the two of them for a moment before opening the book he carried to the place his red ribbon had marked. Taking a long breath of air, he began the ceremony. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sign of God – and in the face of this company – to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony…"

Sakura drifted out around this point. She vaguely registered what the man was saying, but her mind was racing. Her gaze traveled through all the many faces in the audience, looking for them for some golden shiny light to help her get through this. She saw Itachi and Kisame standing in Sasuke's side, both of them were watching her with neutral expressions. Could they see her inner turmoil?

"…Which is commended to be honorable among all men; and therefore – is not by any – to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly – but reverently, discreetly, advisedly and solemnly."

Sakura looked over to her side, seeing her mother silently crying in happiness. Even now, she could smile at her mother as a comforting gesture. She looked back a few rows, eyes landing on Sasori, Ino and Deidara once again as she had before. Her heart started to race.

"Into this holy estate these two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together – let them speak now or forever hold their peace."

She finally registered this last line, looking at Sasuke for a moment before again turning towards the others. No one said a word for a long time. Sakura wanted to speak. She wanted to say, 'I object' but didn't… couldn't. _I can't… Sasuke… I…_

_Deidara_…

"Marriage is the union of husband and wife in heart, body and mind. It is intended for their mutual joy – and for the help and comfort given on another in prosperity and adversity. But more importantly – it is a means through which a stable and loving environment may be attained."

Sakura's hands started trembling. The bouquet of flowers she held was slightly shaking as well because of it. She caught Sasuke's eyes flashed in the direction of her trembling hands and instantly locked on hers, an unreadable expression in his face. Sakura tried to keep his gaze for as long as she could, but after a while, she couldn't. She looked away.

"Through marriage, Sasuke and Sakura make a commitment together to face their disappointments – embrace their dreams – realize their hopes – and accept each other's failures."

_No… no, stop saying that_, Sakura thought. The world around her started to spin, giving her feelings of dizziness. _Don't say Sasuke… not Sasuke and Sakura… Sasuke… I need… _Her green eyes wandered through the audience, searching for him once again. When Sakura saw Deidara again, her heart was going so fast she was certain it would stop.

"Sasuke and Sakura will promise one another to aspire to these ideals throughout their lives together – through mutual understanding – openness – and sensitivity to each other."

_Not Sasuke…_ repeated in her mind. Sasori watched her, studying her with his perceptive eyes until he finally caught on. "Not good," he said quietly. He knew that look. Sakura laid her emotions and feelings out on her sleeves. He could read her like a book, but that was what worried him.

Ino looked at him, confused, "What's going on?"

Sasori kept his eyes on Sakura. He slowly shook his head a couple times, giving her a warning look. "Don't do it." Deidara looked at his partner for a moment, trying to catch onto his train of thought. Unable to figure out what Sasori knew that the others didn't, he looked at Sakura again.

The priest continued, "We are here today – before God – because marriage is one of His most sacred wishes – to witness the joining in marriage of Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno."

Sakura's eyes widened, her breathing turning a step below hyperventilation. She frantically looked at Sasuke and then at Deidara. That was it. She had to. She looked at Sasuke one last time, and then towards the door.

She ran.


	14. Resolution

**_TK_**: I can safely say I didn't see myself finishing this fanfic in less than a month, that's for sure. I remember the day I wrote the first chapter and posted, wondering if people even **read** AU fanfics. Well, it's nice to see that so many have. I appreciate what everyone had to say, and it's really thanks to all of you that this story has been a success and that I was able to finish in such a short amount of time. You've all been so patient with me and said so many wonderful things in your reviews. I really want to thank all of you for that by giving this story a happy ending, and that's exactly what I did. I wanted this chapter to be a long one, but an ending is meant to tie everything together nicely, so I'm afraid this will have to do. Regardless, I worked hard on this chapter, and I hope everyone enjoys this fanfic; I adored writing it.

Lots of Love to All of My Reviewers

**SonjaV  
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* * *

_**Upside-Down**_

_TK Grimm_

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen:**

**Resolution**

* * *

"Sakura-"

"Don't," Sasori said, tightly gripping Deidara's shoulder to stop him. "If you run after her now, it's going to cause a thousand problems we need to avoid."

"She just ran away!" Deidara looked at the altar where Sasuke stood, emotionless expression glued to the door Sakura sprinted through just moments before.

Ino looked at Sasori, "I'll go after her; it'll make sense since I'm her best friend." Sasori nodded, relinquishing his grip on Deidara's shoulder. Ino glanced at Sasuke and then lifted her dress so she would trip, running down the aisle and out the double doors as well.

When she reached the entrance of the church, Ino frantically looked around in every direction. For being a runaway bride, Sakura sure knew how to slip away. "Damn it, Forehead, what the hell are you thinking?" Ino asked to no one in particular. She opened the front doors of the church and looked to see if Sakura had run outside.

She was too late. As Ino opened the front door, Sakura's Tommy Kaira sped out of the parking lot. "Not good…"

"Where is she?"

Ino turned around, even though she knew it was Sasuke who had spoken. He still had that smug, blocked off facial expression that didn't reveal a thing about how he was feeling. The blonde looked at him defiantly, "Gone. I think you have **Karin** to thank for that."

This time, Sasuke gave her a cold glare, visibly clenching his right fist tightly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Deidara and Sasori in the doorway, watching him, practically daring him to try anything. Without another word, Sasuke walked out of the church, heading towards his car.

"You okay, chick?" Deidara asked.

Ino smiled, shaking her head once, "I'm fine. Sakura just left; I saw her car speed out of the parking lot. I don't know where she went though."

"Somewhere that she can get away from both Sasuke and this idiot," Sasori said.

"**Watch it**," Deidara said in a warning tone.

Ino gave him a quizzical look, "But where would that be?"

A slight grin crossed Sasori's lips, "You're her best friend; you should know."

She furrowed her eyes in confusion for a moment. _Sakura…_ Then it clicked. Ino nodded her head, "I'll do what I can," and ran out to her car in the parking lot.

"How do you know where she went, yeah?" Deidara asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sasori glanced at him, smirking, "Perhaps if you understood the true concept of art, you would know as well."

"Not cool."

* * *

Ino took out her keys, fumbling with them for a moment to find the one to her apartment. She was in such a rush, it was difficult to do even the simplest of tasks. To think that Sasori had been right – well it was no wonder, really. Perhaps he knew Sakura as well as she did. Ino took a sidelong glance at Sakura's Tommy Kaira in her driveway and smiled slightly.

After unlocking her door, she stepped inside and closed it behind her, quickly taking off her shoes. Ino felt her heart tie in a knot upon seeing her best friend at the kitchen table in tears. "Sakura…?"

Sakura lifted her head off the makeshift pillow of her arms and managed to give Ino a fake smile. Her eyes were slightly red and puffy from crying. "How did you f-find me?" Sakura asked.

"I'm your best friend," Ino said with a comforting smile. She sat down next to her at the table. "Though it doesn't help that you hid in my apartment…"

A small snort of laughter came from Sakura before she slumped back in her seat, burying her face once again. Ino stood up and walked over to the cabinet, taking out two cups and filling them with ice water. She handed one to Sakura and then walked into the living room. Ino came back a few seconds later and placed a box of tissues on the table as well. Then she sat back down in her chair and waited for Sakura to calm down enough to talk.

Sakura looked up slightly, seeing the tissues. She took one and tried to clean herself up. "Thanks," she said quietly, gently rubbing her eyes. After drinking a few sips of water, Sakura set the cup down and stared at the table for a while.

Ino was quiet, too, waiting for Sakura. She knew her best friend would talk when she was ready. That had to be part of the reason she came _here_ of all places as well. After a few more moments of silence, Sakura finally spoke. "I just… I don't understand… Why can't I be happy? Here I am, on my wedding day, and I'm in my best friend's apartment crying my eyes out, ruining my dress and my makeup…"

"It's not your fault," Ino said, trying to think of what she could say to help. She had to try that chess-talking move that Sasori always used, where you think six moves ahead. Smiling inwardly, Ino knew she wouldn't be able to do that. So perhaps just two.

"But it is," Sakura insisted, meeting Ino's gaze. "I couldn't take it… up there on the altar. The priest just kept saying Sasuke's name, and every time he did, I felt fear rise up inside me. It was… it was just awful. Ugh, this makes me a horrible person…"

Ino shook her head, "No it doesn't."

"How can you say that?" Sakura asked. "I just ran away from my fiancé at the altar! I ran away from my own wedding!"

Ino sighed slowly, continually meeting Sakura's green eyes with her own. "Now then… what makes you a horrible person?"

"I ran away from Sasuke, what do you think?" The tears were slowly starting to come back.

"And why did you run away from Sasuke?" Ino asked, handing Sakura another tissue.

Sakura dabbed her eyes gently again, but froze as soon as her mind had registered what Ino had asked. "Because… because I'm not in love with him."

"And who are you in love with?"

Hesitantly, Sakura looked at Ino once again. "I'm… I'm in love with Deidara."

Finally, Ino smiled at her, nodding her head. "Now then… what do you think you should do?"

A slightly lopsided smile crossed Sakura's lips, but she nodded, knowing what she had to do. "Can I use your computer?"

Ino tilted her head to the side, "I don't think you can cancel your wedding through an e-mail…" Sakura shook her head. "Well, sure, I guess. What do you have in mind?"

"There's something coming up… and I want to go with Deidara," Sakura explained, standing up and walking to the computer in the living room of Ino's apartment. "It's his favorite band… they're having a concert here in about a week."

"How do you know about it?" Ino asked.

"I saw the commercial a few weeks ago," she replied. Sakura typed in a web address and started browsing different concert listings until she found the Mötley Crüe one. "This is it." As she started putting in her credit card information to purchase online tickets, she said, "You know, if someone would have told me I'd be going to a rock concert…"

"I would have hit them," Ino said with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "I was surprised when you went to that Linkin Park one. At least these guys aren't as heavy as some others."

"Well I sort of drew the line there," Sakura laughed. "There's no way I'd go see some loud screamer band. But these guys aren't too bad for as old as they are. Might be kinda nice. Besides," she added softly as she clicked the 'confirm purchase' button, "this isn't for me."

Ino smiled at her, "I know."

* * *

Sakura parked her car in her driveway, smiling slightly when she saw Deidara's Trans Am already there. She got out and walked to her front door, wondering what she was going to say. She clutched the receipt for her two concert tickets in her hands, anticipating the look on his face.

When she reached the front door, she unlocked it and walked inside. Half of her wished she had changed out of her wedding dress and into something of Ino's, but the other half knew that whatever she borrowed probably wouldn't be returned. Ino had a lot of cool clothes, after all.

As soon as Sakura closed the front door behind her and slipped off her shoes, Deidara emerged from the hallway and stopped. He leaned against the wall slightly, watching her and waiting to see what she would do first. Sakura put on her bravest face and walked towards him. "I couldn't go through with it."

"I noticed… yeah," he said. There was a slight pause. "Feel any better?"

"Not enough to marry someone I'm not in love with," she replied, a slight smile tugging from the corners of her mouth. She stopped when she was right in front of him, looking at him with the same smile that she used to. It wasn't long before he was grinning at her with a raised eyebrow, wondering what she was thinking. "I can't marry Sasuke. I can't and I won't," she said simply.

After all that had happened, she found these words were a lot easier to say at last. Not to mention, she could always be herself in front of Deidara. Sakura wasn't out to impress. She put her arms on his shoulders, gently holding onto his neck with her hands, "Dei, I don't love him. I don't know what went through my head – maybe it was the stress, maybe I was worried that if I wasn't with Sasuke, I'd be all alone. Hell, maybe it was just to please my mother. Regardless of any of that, I don't love him. I love _you_."

Deidara was about to say something back but stopped, a contemplative expression crossing his features. After a couple seconds, a mischievous grin appeared, "Let's see, yeah… I don't know, chick; that involves me dating a **freshman** after all."

Sakura playfully poked him in the forehead, "You jerk!" She finally registered his hands sliding down her lower body from behind and raised an eyebrow, "You are such an ass."

Deidara shrugged, "Yeah, I know."

Sakura pulled away and looked at the receipt one more time, a slight blush coming over her cheeks. "Well… I… I got you something. _**Us**_… something," she corrected. "You don't have to, but I thought it would be kind of nice…" Sakura hesitantly held the paper in his direction, so Deidara took it with a confused look.

After glancing at it briefly for less than a second, he pulled Sakura into a bone-crushing hug, "You serious, yeah?" he asked, still looking at the paper as he held onto Sakura tight. She nodded, hugging him back. "I never thought I'd see these guys – Sakura, this is a once and a lifetime thing, it-"

Sakura smiled despite herself, tuning out Deidara's rant about how amazing the band was. All that mattered was that things were finally going to go right from then on. She was going to cancel her wedding, maybe make a dramatic scene(it was something she had always wanted to do at least once), and start her new life with Deidara.

That was when the door opened. Sakura pulled away from Deidara and looked to see Sasuke leaning against the doorframe, watching with that unreadable expression of his. From the open window, she could see Karin sitting in the passenger seat of his car.

"Are you aware that adultery is illegal?"

That was the first thing Sasuke said. In the beginning, Sakura wanted to back down. She wanted to run away and hide in her room or cower in a corner and wait for him to leave. But after taking a deep breath and calming herself down – seeing Karin glance at the apartment from the Lamborghini helped – she said, "Are **you**?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow but only for a moment. For that split second, he was surprised by the sudden change in Sakura. Perhaps she couldn't be pushed around anymore after all. Even if marrying her would have looked a lot better than street-orphan-Karin, it didn't exactly bother him too badly that it wasn't going to work after all. The only annoyance was that all that effort on his act went to waste in the end.

Though there **was** the annoyance that of all people, Deidara, one of _Itachi's_ friends, was the cause of it.

"You've got one last chance," Sasuke said at last. "Either come with me or give up your chances at a decent future."

Deidara was about to stop forward, but when Sakura heard him crack his knuckles, she held her arm in front of him, holding him back. With a slightly sad, diminished smile on her face, she looked at him and then walked towards Sasuke.

Sasuke smirked slightly; he had overestimated Sakura after all. She couldn't resist him. When she was barely a foot away, something he didn't expect happened.

Her knee made direct contact with his manhood.

His eyes widened, and Sasuke fell to his knees, forcing them together so tightly _air_ couldn't squeeze through. Sakura backed up, the sad smile replaced with a triumphant one. She mimicked Deidara's actions and cracked her knuckles for good measure, showing Sasuke that there was more where that came from. "Anything else?" she asked sweetly. "Or did I make my point clear?"

"…Gh…" Sasuke seemed unable to speak, his eyes still wide. Sakura was certain that if he could move, she'd be in danger. But it was obvious he'd be in pain for a **long time**.

Karin made her way through the door, "Sasuke!" She knelt down beside him and tried to help him up, all the while glaring at Sakura. Sakura was the one that prevented her from having Sasuke entirely to herself. Though at least now she would be out of the picture.

As soon as they were out the door, Sakura slammed it shut. She looked at Deidara, scratching the back of her head sheepishly, "Wow… um… I guess I don't know my own strength! A-heh-heh…"

Deidara swallowed hard, "As long as I don't ever make you mad… yeah." He visibly shuddered at the thought.

Sakura giggled and walked over to the windows, closing them to block out unwanted sunlight and anything else. She sat down on the couch and patted the seat beside her. Deidara sat down next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. Sakura turned on the TV, comfortably leaning against him. From the corner of her eyes, she could see him looking at the ticket paper again.

"Well aren't _you_ easy to please," she teased. Deidara rolled his eyes setting the paper down and shifting his position so he was lying on his back. Pulling Sakura closer to him, he ran his fingers through her hair once. Sakura smiled at him, twirling some of his blonde hair around her index finger. "You know… it _is_ Sunday."

Deidara raised an eyebrow, "And…?"

"Well… we don't have to **work** on Sunday…" her voice trailed off.

Deidara grinned, knowing where she was going with this. "_And_…?"

"Let's play Monopoly!" Sakura exclaimed jokingly.

Deidara rolled his eyes, gripping Sakura's shoulders and swapping positions with her. He grinned at her again, "I think I have something better in mind… yeah."

_**The End**_


End file.
